The West Loop: One of the Most Impressive Instances of an “Edge City” Has Risen Along the West Loop

The West Loop: One of the most impressive instances of an “edge city” has risen along the West Loop. This view looks north along the West Loop with the Southwest Freeway interchange in the foreground. (Photo: September 2002) The Loops

In his 1992 book, Edge City: Life on the New Frontier, Joel Garreau documents the rise of new urban centers on the fringes of the nation’s cities. These edge cities included not only the traditional elements of suburbia—homes and shopping malls—but also the means of creating wealth—jobs. Garreau identifies 123 edge cities around the nation but makes no effort to rate or rank them by any criteria. After all, the edge city is a somewhat amorphous entity, evolving to meet the needs of the new information economy. But Gar- reau leaves us with a few hints that perhaps there is one edge city that towers over all the rest, both literally and figuratively, an edge city that stuns the sense of sight by the immense scale of its signature structure. That edge city is the Uptown Houston district located on the West Loop. Just off the West Loop is the 64-floor, 899-foot-tall (274 m) Williams Tower, an architecturally distinctive structure that is made even more striking by its dominating presence over an otherwise impressive landscape of mid-rise office towers. It was the loop freeway, of course, that propelled Uptown Houston to become one of the most impressive edge cities in the United States. The circumferential freeway bypass has become a standard fixture in the freeway sys- tems of many cities, both in the United States and Europe. But Houston wouldn’t settle for just one loop, or even two. By 1965 plans were in the works for three major circumferential loops around Houston, and if the freeway miniloop enclosing downtown is included, there are actually four. Houston is the ultimate implementation of the loop and radial freeway system, with a nearly complete second loop in 2003 and the wheels in motion for the construction of the third loop. Perhaps only two other major cities in the United States, Dallas and San Antonio, hold out any hope of fully completing second freeway loops around their cities. If in fact Houston’s third loop, the Grand Parkway, is completed as planned, Houston will be in a class by itself. Almost surely, no other city will ever be able to achieve Houston’s loop freeway accomplishment. The West Loop parking lot: The West Loop is one of Houston’s most congested freeways. This view looks north toward Memorial Park. (Photo: James Lyle, TTI, June 2001) The Loop, Interstate 610

Loop 610 is more than just a freeway. It has come to define a lifestyle and state of mind, not just a geographic section of the city. The “inner looper” is more of an urban person, someone who likes to be close to the arts, universities, events, parks, and entertainment. Many inner loopers seek out the variety, disorder, and nonconformity of Houston’s older neighborhoods. Others seek out some of Houston’s most affluent and exclusive neighborhoods. The inner looper often lives close-in as a means of avoiding freeways. More than any other geographic group in Houston, the inner looper is likely to be anti-freeway. While it serves as an informal boundary between central Houston and the rest of the city, Loop 610 is also a vital transportation artery—the most important freeway in the function- ing of Houston’s loop and radial system. As the focus point for much of the congestion on Houston’s freeway system, the West Loop is also the biggest source of dysfunction. The loop ties together many seemingly disparate sections of Houston: edge cities, neighborhoods from the exclusive to the decayed, parks, stadiums, and industry. Along its path, the loop offers an abundance of interchanges, the ship channel bridge, and some impressive freeway sections.

Origins The need for a bypass loop around Houston was first Loop 610 identified as early as 1931, when Harris County officials Previous designation Loop 137 were proposing bypass routes to divert traffic from the city Designated as freeway 1954 (north, west, south) center. The early concept proposed using existing streets 1960 (east) for the bypass. No progress was made during the 1930s, but efforts to build a loop came back to life in September First freeway section open 1952 (La Porte cutoff) 1940 when the Houston Chamber of Commerce Highway 1960 (Loop 610) Committee formed a special subcommittee to study po- Freeway complete September 22, 1975 tential bypass alignments. Various benefits were cited, Reconstruction Intermittent since 1975 including reduction of traffic inside the city, reduction of Max traffic volume, 2001 290,000 vehicles per day accidents, and diversion of trucks, but the possible need Future construction Reconstruction of West for national defense deployments would quickly become Loop (underway in 2003) the driving factor in moving plans for the loop forward.1 In March 1941 the first report recommending a bypass loop around Houston was issued. Preliminary Study for a Spanish Trail, and Wayside. On May 3, 1941, a $5.4 mil- Primary Defense Need of Houston and Vicinity—A Bypass lion Harris County bond issue allocating $1,028,354 for or Loop Thoroughfare, published by the Houston City the Defense Loop was approved by Harris County voters Planning Commission, explained how military officials with 71% of the vote.2 had contemplated the logistics of large troop movements The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, through Houston to protect the Houston Ship Channel and increased the urgency of constructing the Defense Loop. its associated industries. Initially authorities had planned On June 23, 1942, the Texas Transportation Commission to block off city streets to move military convoys through formally adopted the north section of the Loop from IH the heart of the city. However, it quickly became clear 10 West (then US 90) on the west side of Houston to IH that this would be very disruptive, and by April 1941 the 10 East (then SH 73) on the east side Houston, calling it Houston Chronicle was reporting that “military authori- the “Loop on US 90.” An agreement approved on Novem- ties have all but demanded the construction of a belt high- ber 16, 1943, called for the city of Houston to provide a way.” The study also included a map that indicated the key 150-foot (46 m) corridor for the highway. The loop was “war industries” around Houston, such as Dow Chemical designated as Loop 137. However, real progress on a true in Freeport, Houston Ship Building Corporation along the freeway loop would have to wait until after the war.3 ship channel, and Consolidated Steel in Beaumont. The contemplated route followed existing and planned arterial Putting the Freeway Loop on the Map streets around the city and was envisioned as a highway or As progress on the loop highway crept along in the large urban street rather than a freeway. The alignment of early 1950s, authorities were formulating a master plan the northern half of the proposed loop ultimately became for Houston’s freeway system which included a full free- the Loop 610 freeway. The southern half of the proposed way loop. In July 1953 a Houston delegation appeared loop followed the arterial streets Bellaire Boulevard, Old before the Texas Transportation Commission in Austin 276 Houston Freeways June 2005 Update: Modifications to the US 59 south (Southwest Freeway) interchange were completed in 2005.

��

� ��

��

to request adoption of the proposed new freeway routes plan had evolved to the near-final version and included into the state highway system. The loop included in the Ellifrit’s route for the South Loop.5 plan followed the previously approved Loop 137 bypass A delegation of local officials appeared before the Tex- route on the north side of the city and showed the South as Transportation Commission on September 28, 1954, Loop following the alignment of Holmes Road (see map to request state adoption of the West Loop and South on page 13). The South Loop was informally called the Loop as freeways. In October 1954, the commission of- Holmes Road Freeway during this period. In late 1953 the ficially designated the West and South Loops into the state Texas Transportation Commission officially adopted the highway system and approved upgrading the previously spoke freeways requested by Houston officials but did not approved North Loop to a full freeway. With that desig- adopt the loop as a freeway.4 nation, the only missing link was the East Loop from the The Holmes Road Freeway turned out to be very short- La Porte Highway (SH 255) to the East Freeway (IH 10 lived. On December 29, 1953, Houston Planning Director East). For the rest of the 1950s Houston authorities would Ralph Ellifrit submitted a proposal to realign the South focus their efforts on that section.6 Loop to its present location, which is north of Holmes Road for most of its alignment, citing the availability Closing the Loop of open land in the proposed corridor and the complica- In December 1955, in a letter to TxDOT head Dewitt tions that would be caused by the railroad along Holmes Greer, city of Houston planning officials were sounding Road. By the summer of 1954, Houston’s overall master an alarm about the need to preserve right-of-way for the The Loops 277

Original loop plan: Although the idea of a loop for Houston had been around since the early 1930s, the first real progress toward the actual designation of a loop occurred in 1941 when the Houston Planning Commission released a report titled Preliminary Study for a Primary Defense Need of Houston and Vicinity—A Bypass or Loop Thoroughfare. The above map from the city of Houston’s 1942 Major Street Plan shows the proposed alignment of the bypass loop. The loop was envisioned as a highway or major arterial street, and for most of its alignment it followed existing routes. The first new construction for the loop would not be completed until 1950.

East Loop corridor, citing a “critical situation with respect there was not enough available mileage to meet all needs to planning and protecting the right-of-way.” The align- in Texas. Dewitt Greer left missing links in Houston and ment of the East Loop had already been shifted twice other Texas cities, thinking that the U.S. Bureau of Roads because of plant expansions in the proposed freeway path. would automatically add the missing sections out of ob- When the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 authorized vious necessity. However, Greer’s plan backfired when and funded the construction of the Interstate Highway the Bureau of Roads specified that IH 37 between San System, the previously approved C-shaped Loop 137 Antonio and Corpus Christi would receive the additional bypass route was adopted into the interstate system, but interstate mileage available in Texas. In 1960 the Houston the East Loop and ship channel bridge were once again City Planning Commission led a new effort to get the passed over. On April 24, 1958, the Texas Transportation East Loop adopted into the state highway system, where Commission agreed to continue to perform surveys and its cost would be shared by TxDOT and Harris County. studies for the corridor and to continue to seek acceptance A delegation from Houston appeared before the Texas of the route into the interstate system. The commission Transportation Commission August 22, 1960, to make the did not, however, fully adopt the section into the state request. Two days later, the East Loop was finally adopted highway system. into the state highway system, allowing local officials to Texas had a limited amount of mileage it could des- protect and acquire the needed right-of-way. Loop 610 ignate into the federal Interstate Highway System, and would now truly be a loop.7 278 Houston Freeways

From countryside to freeway-side: This view shows the Pin Oak Stables with its annual charity horse show in progress in the late 1940s. Post Oak Road runs along the upper part of the photograph, and �� the future alignment of the West Loop freeway is indicated by the dashed lines. At the upper left corner, the alignment of the future Southwest Freeway is shown. The Pin Oak Charity Horse Show was held from 1945 through 1992. In its prime years, from the late 1940s to the 1960s, it was one of the leading horse shows in the United States and one of the most prestigious social events in Houston. Its parties were attended by Houston’s elite as well as film stars and wealthy riding enthusiasts from around the �� country. The horse show was promoted by James Abercrombie, founder of Cameron Iron Works, and Leopold Meyer, whose family owned the now-defunct Meyer Brothers apparel retail chain in Houston. �� The land was developed for retail use starting in the late 1980s. The site of the horse show stadium became a parking lot for a large retail store which was later converted to educational use.8 (Photo: HMRC MSS 67-1074)

Adoption into the Interstate Highway System was still 1950, and the rest of the section to the Eastex Freeway pursued by local officials since interstate status would opened on February 26, 1954. The loop highway was gen- provide 90% federal funding for the freeway and costly erally constructed on a 150-foot-wide (46 m) right-of-way bridge. Finally, during the week of September 10, 1962, with four highway lanes. the United States Bureau of Roads approved the East In 1954 the north, west, and south sections of the loop Loop as part of the Interstate Highway System.9 were officially designated as freeways. The 150-foot-wide highway corridor on the North Loop was expanded to a Building the Freeway minimum of 300 feet (91 m), and in 1956 a new align- The early work on the loop highway, called Loop 137 ment was approved for a section of the North Loop at the at the time, focused on the northeast section between the Eastex Freeway interchange. The first full freeway section Eastex Freeway and the East Freeway. The first section, of Loop 610 had actually opened in December 1952 as the from the East Freeway to Lockwood, was completed in La Porte cutoff on the Gulf Freeway. That section of the The Loops 279

Southwest Freeway interchange construction: These views show the West Loop main lanes under construction at the Southwest Freeway interchange in May 1961. Post Oak Road snaked its way through the construction zone, as shown in the aerial view at right, which looks north. Soon after these photos were taken, this section of Post Oak Road was permanently closed and replaced by the West Loop. (Photo: upper, HMRC RGD6-952; right: TxDOT) ��

��

�� 280 Houston Freeways

South Loop corridor: Aerial photographs from the 1950s and 1960s show an abundance of drive-in cinemas on the Houston landscape. The 1959 Houston telephone �� directory listed 18 drive-in cinemas, including the King Center Twin Drive-In shown in the 1960 photo above. No drive-in cinemas in Houston were displaced by freeways, but

�� the South Loop just missed the King Center Twin Drive-In, skirting its edge. The South �� Loop at this location, indicated by the dashed lines, opened in January 1969. (Photo: The Positive Image)

La Porte Freeway was absorbed into the loop. The initial In 1941 Houston’s loop was designated to pass through section to be constructed as part of the loop itself was a Bellaire on South Post Oak Road. But it was planned as a 1.3-mile (2.1 km) segment of the North Loop east of the major arterial street, not a freeway. In 1953 local officials North Freeway. That section opened in 1960. Over the revealed plans to turn the loop into a full freeway, and next 15 years the loop would open section by section. The TxDOT officially adopted the loop into the Houston free- final ribbon for Loop 610 was cut on September 22, 1975, way system in October 1954. The freeway would follow when a 3.3-mile (5.3 km) segment in northeast Houston Post Oak Road through Bellaire, splitting the city almost was opened.10 exactly in half. By December 1954 a group of Bellaire residents began an effort to stop the freeway. Building the Freeway through Bellaire The history of Bellaire began in 1908 when a 9,449- Trying to Stop a Freeway in the 1950s acre tract known as the William Marsh Rice Ranch was Trying to stop a freeway in the 1950s was a daunting purchased for development. The developer subdivided the and perhaps impossible task. The legal tools for opposing eastern section of the property into small tracts and called freeways were not available at that time. As an added dif- it Westmoreland Farms. In a 1909 brochure, Westmore- ficulty for those opposing the freeway, highway engineers land Farms was promoted as a “suburban agricultural op- sought the most direct, efficient, and least costly routes for portunity” where the country life could be enjoyed within freeways. The possibility of curving the freeway around easy reach of the city. A streetcar line operated by the Bellaire to minimize impacts was not considered an ac- Houston Electric Company began service by the begin- ceptable practice at the time since it would have caused an ning of 1910 to connect the community to Houston. The awkward, curving alignment. community was incorporated as a city on June 24, 1918, The anti-freeway group first protested against the West and it grew slowly prior to World War II. Bellaire had Loop at a Bellaire City Council meeting on December about 330 homes and 1,124 residents in 1940.11 6, 1954. At the time, the freeway was informally called After World War II, Bellaire became a classic postwar the Post Oak Freeway. The Bellaire Texan newspaper suburban boom town. In 1950 Bellaire had 3,186 homes. reported that “city council hid behind the ‘need for more The housing construction boom continued with 600 to facts and figures,’ giving nothing more than a ‘don’t worry 700 homes being constructed each year in 1950, 1951, and about it’ brush off to 50 anti-Post Oak Freeway citizens 1952. By 1955 Bellaire had been largely built out, and less who petitioned the council for a definite stand against than 100 homes were constructed. In August 1955 Bel- any such construction through Bellaire.” The mayor tried laire had 5,897 homes. Since Houston had annexed all the to assure a skeptical audience that “the entire council is land around the city, Bellaire became an island city and on the side of Bellaire, not Houston.” When the protest further growth was not possible. But construction in Bel- was reported in the local Houston news, the manager of laire was definitely not over. Transportation officials were Houston’s Public Works Department wrote a letter to the working on plans for the West Loop freeway. Harris County Judge, stating, “It looks to me like this is a The Loops 281

Clearing the way: Right-of-way clearance through Bellaire occurred from 1959 to 1961. Completed in March 1968, the freeway main lanes were built in the foreground of this photo. The blurred vehicle in the background is travelling on Post Oak Road, which was a two-lane road. (Photo: Houston Chronicle, January 11, 1960) very dangerous situation.” 12 In November 1955 the proposed right-of-way map for The opposition then started a petition campaign to the freeway corridor was released. In the initial plan, right- force the Bellaire City Council to enact an ordinance of-way was to be acquired almost entirely on the east side that would prevent the expenditure of any city of Bellaire of Post Oak Road. An article in the November 16, 1955, funds for the purchase of right-of-way. Under the terms Bellaire Texan presented numerous citizen comments on of TxDOT’s adoption of the West Loop freeway route, the freeway, including those of supporters and others who Bellaire was expected to pay for the freeway right-of-way accepted the new freeway as inevitable. Former mayor through the city. The Bellaire City Council complied with and prominent resident Abe Zindler, whose estate was the petitioners’ request without officially tabulating the immediately adjacent to the freeway route, stated, “If petition results by formally notifying the Texas Trans- they need it, and that’s the best route, then we can’t stop portation Commission on April 4, 1955, that the city of progress.” In early February 1956, Harris County Com- Bellaire “respectfully and officially” declined to provide missioners Court adjusted the freeway corridor to lie to right-of-way for the project. In its letter, Bellaire cited its the west of Post Oak Road in the northern part of Bellaire, island status within the city of Houston and its inability to mainly to avoid a Catholic high school. Commissioners increase its tax base via annexation. The council felt it had Court then proceeded to approve the alignment. The new complied with the request of the petitioners. However, the alignment would displace 190 homes in Bellaire, a clear- petitioners then realized that the city council action would ance corridor that was generally four houses wide along not preclude another entity from purchasing the right-of- South Post Oak Road.14 way through Bellaire, and they asked city council to take Only one formality remained: a public hearing on a definite stand against any freeway construction. Harris March 29, 1956. About 75 citizens of Bellaire attended County would step forward to take responsibility for ac- the hearing at Harris County Commissioners Court. How- quiring the right-of-way, and Bellaire City Council would ever, the opponents realized that the hearing was largely a not actively oppose the freeway.13 formality. “The freeway is a foregone conclusion. We’re ��

��

Pre-freeway Bellaire: This view looks north over Bel- laire in 1960, just after right- of-way clearance for the West Loop had begun. The West Loop is aligned along Post Oak Road, the two-lane road run- ning through the center of the photograph. The freeway alignment is indicated by the dashed lines. The clearance corridor was approximately four houses wide along Post Oak Road. (Photo: The Positive Image ) ��

��

This view, also from 1960, looks north over the north section of Bellaire. At the top of the photo, construction is just beginning on the Southwest Freeway interchange. (Photo: The Positive Image) 284 Houston Freeways

morial Park, so he stood to reap a huge financial gain from the construction of the West Loop. This did not go unno- ticed by Houston City Council. In December 1954, Hous- ton City Council was informed of a new plan to move the alignment of the West Loop slightly east of Post Oak Road for a section between the Southwest and Katy Freeways. The realignment shifted the freeway to vacant land, saving approximately $400,000 in right-of-way costs, approximately 2.28 million in 2003 dollars. The realignment would cause the West Loop to bisect Smith’s property, so his land holdings would have freeway frontage on both sides of the freeway. The Houston Chronicle reported that “a majority [of council members] indicated opposition on the argument that the routing would increase vacant land owned by Robert E. Smith, political backer of the mayor.” The alignment through Smith’s property would be adopted, and Smith would reap a financial windfall when the West Loop commercial boom subsequently took place.17 The West Loop story has a happy ending for the residents of Bellaire. If ever there is a need for evidence that freeways do not destroy neighborhoods, one needs to look no further than Bellaire. In spite of the West Loop, or perhaps because of it, Bellaire has become one of the most desirable residential areas of Houston. Starting in the 1980s, Bellaire became known as a “tear-down” area, where older homes were torn down and replaced with Why is this man smiling? In 1957 he was included in large and expensive custom homes. Many of the new Fortune Magazine’s list of the 76 wealthiest persons in the United States. Freeways also made him smile. He owned homes were constructed immediately alongside the West a lot of land along Houston’s freeways, including about Loop. In 2001, the median home price in Bellaire was 90% of the land along the West Loop between Westheimer $143 per square foot ($1,539 per square meter), far above and Memorial Park. Land along Houston’s freeways is the Houston average of $66 per square foot ($710 per particularly valuable because the freeway frontage roads square meter) and the Harris County average of $60 per enable commercial development. Who is he? R. E. “Bob” square foot ($646 per square meter). New homes in Bel- Smith (1894-1973), oilman, rancher, and land speculator.15 laire typically sell for $500,000 to more than $1 million. (Photo: HMRC RG-D5-4983) Some Bellaire residents may feel that their city would be even better without the freeway, but the convenience and here only to get the gripes off our chest,” remarked one transportation access provided by the West Loop is cer- protester. The commissioners unanimously approved the tainly something that should not be discounted.18 freeway alignment. The West Loop through Bellaire was In 1997, 43 years after the original controversy over now a done deal, and the opposition dispersed. When the the routing of Loop 610 through Bellaire, TxDOT called highway department held a public hearing for the free- for a new series of public hearings to discuss improve- way design in September 1957, Houston Urban Project ments to the West Loop, including the section through Office head A. C. Kyser reported, “No opposition to the Bellaire. The project was a “no capacity added” project, route was voiced and we spent about an hour briefing and proposed improvements were very modest, consisting the people and answering questions that applied to their mostly of improvements at entrance and exit ramps. Nev- specific property.” At the meeting the freeway corridor ertheless, substantial opposition developed, especially was widened to 350 feet (106 m). Right-of-way clearance over a plan to extend the West Loop frontage roads under- began in 1959 and was complete by 1961.16 neath the Southwest Freeway just north of Bellaire. It was Although the freeway opponents may not have real- almost as if the clock had been turned back, and TxDOT ized it, there was a very powerful person who had a strong officials once again felt the fury that had been released in interest in the Post Oak alignment, probably making it 1954 when the freeway was originally planned. Some in a near certainty: oilman, rancher, and millionaire R. E. Bellaire were demanding that the freeway be depressed “Bob” Smith. Not only was Smith wealthy and well con- below grade, but flooding concerns quickly scuttled that nected, but he was also a strong political backer of Hous- idea. The reconstruction of Loop 610 in Bellaire was un- ton Mayor Roy Hofheinz. Smith owned a large amount of derway by 1999 with only a few modifications from the land along the Post Oak Road corridor north of Bellaire. original plan. The lack of added capacity, however, would In fact, he and his associates owned about 90% of the land ensure that the freeway would not be able to meet future along the freeway corridor between Westheimer and Me- demand. The Loops 285

Freeway disaster: A cloud of ammonia gas engulfs the West Loop-Southwest Freeway interchange on May 11, 1976, moments after a speeding tanker truck fully loaded with ammonia crashed through the guardrail on a connector ramp and fell to the Southwest Freeway below. Five people were killed, about 50 were hospitalized, and about 150 received treatment. This photo was taken by photographer Carroll �� Grevemberg about one minute after the accident from the thirteenth floor of an office tower in the Galleria �� complex. Grevemberg, an audio-video designer at the Transco Company, heard the explosion and then heard someone say, “I wish I had a camera.” Grevemberg grabbed his camera, loaded some film, and was able to capture the gas cloud as it expanded over the interchange and then dissipated during the next five �� minutes. (Photo: Carroll Grevemberg, Grevy Photography, New Orleans) �� Disaster But in terms of extraordinary events and May 11, 1976, 11:18 A.M.: A tanker truck loaded with sheer drama, it is the most horrific and ammonia speeds northward through Bellaire on the West memorable accident in the history of Houston’s freeway Loop toward the Southwest Freeway interchange and ex- system. Survivors told stories of fleeing the gas cloud and its to make the connection to the southbound Southwest barely making it out alive. Others who had collapsed in Freeway. As the truck rounds the curve, its speed is too the gas cloud were dragged out by good samaritans. In an great and it cannot stay on the roadway. The truck crashes adjacent neighborhood, foliage looked like it had been hit through the guardrail and falls to the Southwest Freeway with a hard freeze—even though it was May. The freeway main lanes one level below. The resulting explosion un- interchange structure was badly damaged, necessitating leashes a cloud of ammonia gas, engulfing the interchange. the closure of freeway lanes for the rest of May to rebuild Four people are killed immediately, three by asphyxiation. a pier structure for the West Loop overpass.19 Others attempting to flee the scene by foot collapse before they can escape the gas cloud. Fifty people are hospital- Edge City Extraordinaire ized, and another 150 are treated and released. The death Large business centers generally come in two variet- toll reaches five in the following days. ies: those that existed before the freeway era, and those In terms of loss of life, it ranks as a tragic accident, that arose as a result of freeways. The Uptown Houston although certainly not as deadly as other highway acci- district along the West Loop provides one of the most dra- dents over the years, particularly those involving buses. matic transformations of suburban, freeway-side acreage 286 Houston Freeways The Loops 287

(Opposite page) Transformation: This view shows the the United States.20 West Loop/Uptown Houston corridor in 1960 just as the The Uptown Houston district boomed along with first freeway construction is beginning. In the lower part Houston during the 1970s and early 1980s. An impressive of the photo, land preparation is underway for the West collection of mid-rise office buildings rose along the West Loop-Southwest Freeway interchange. The dashed lines Loop. It became one of the most impressive instances of from top to bottom indicate the route of the West Loop. The dashed lines from left the edge city, a term popularized by author Joel Garreau in to right indicate the route of his 1992 book, Edge City: Life on the New Frontier. The �� the Southwest Freeway. The crowning achievement of Uptown Houston was the con- West Loop main lanes be- struction of the landmark 899-foot-tall (274 m) Williams tween the Southwest Free- Tower (known as the Transco Tower until 1999) by Gerald �� way (US 59) and the Katy �� Hines Interests in 1983. At the time, it was believed to be Freeway (IH 10) were com- the world’s tallest skyscraper outside of a central business �� plete in November 1966, district. The Williams Tower has a dominating presence and the opening of the Galle- �� on the landscape and dwarfs the nearby structures which �� ria shopping mall in Novem- ber 1970 launched the West are generally in the 20- to 40-floor range. The Williams Tower was the product of a unique era in Houston, a �� Loop commercial construction boom. For a modern period when energy companies were flush with cash and �� view from the same perspec- sought impressive, monumental structures to project their �� tive, see the chapter intro- power. Large-scale office construction in Uptown Hous- ductory photo on page 272. ton came to an end with the collapse of energy prices and (Photo: The Positive Image) the meltdown of Houston’s economy in the mid-to-late 1980s. In 2001 the West Loop commercial district had 23.8 million square feet of office space. Downtown Hous- ton, in comparison, had 39.3 million square feet. In the into a major business center. In 1960, the area that would late 1990s a mini-boom of mid-rise residential tower con- become Uptown Houston was mostly vacant land with struction, typically 30 floors tall, got underway. Uptown a scattering of strip shopping centers, some residential Houston has accumulated a surprisingly large concentra- development, a drive-in cinema and a television station. tion of high-rise residential structures for a low-density But change was coming. Work was just beginning on the city such as Houston. Many of those high-rise residents interchange at the West Loop and Southwest Freeway, and are looking to avoid the traffic congestion on the West by 1961 work was underway on the West Loop frontage Loop, no doubt.21 roads and main lanes. The first section of freeway main lanes in the Uptown Houston district opened in June 1964, and the entire West Loop was complete in 1968. The seeds for the West Loop commercial boom were sown by developer Gerald Hines, who began work on the Galleria shopping center in the late 1960s at the corner of Post Oak and Westheimer, just west of the West Loop. The Galleria was a new concept for Houston, featuring a three-level shopping mall with a central ice rink and a glass canopy roof. Office buildings and hotels were integrated into the Galleria complex. The mall opened on November 16, 1970, and became influential in the development of high-end, mixed-use malls across

A calm, quiet intersection: This view, looking northeast at the Westheimer intersection, shows the first section of the West Loop main lanes to open in the present-day Uptown Houston district. At the time of the photo in December 1964, the freeway main lanes stopped north of Westheimer and the land along the frontage roads was vacant. Within a few years, large-scale commercial development of the land along the West Loop would begin and the Westheimer-West Loop intersection would go on to become one of the most chronically congested in Houston. (Photo: TxDOT) 288 Houston Freeways

Uptown Houston: The mid-rise office towers of the Uptown Houston district are dwarfed by the 64-floor, 899-foot (274 m) Williams Tower. Reconstruction of this section of the West Loop began in 2003. Although it is a “no capacity added” project, the reconstruction will substantially improve merging operations and interchange performance. (Photo: May 2002) �� The Traffic Boom and the Planning Bust the section of the West �� The commercial boom along the West Loop brought Loop between the Katy �� dramatic increases in traffic. In 1968, the year the main and Northwest Freeways �� lanes of the West Loop were completed, the peak traffic to 12 and 14 main lanes. volume was 90,600 vehicles per day. In 1971, just one The project was com- year after the opening of the Galleria shopping center, plete by the end of 1992. peak traffic volume had grown to 146,200 vehicles per In 1991 the time had day, making the West Loop Houston’s busiest freeway. finally arrived to formulate a plan to relieve the chroni- Traffic would continue to grow dramatically through the cally congested section of the West Loop between the 1970s and the West Loop would hold the title of Houston’s Southwest and Katy Freeways. Big problems required big busiest freeway until 1991, when it was eclipsed by the solutions. The plans for the West Loop proposed a major North Freeway. More than any other freeway in Houston, expansion of the freeway to meet the transportation needs the West Loop sustains severe traffic congestion in both of the area. TxDOT called a public meeting in November directions during rush hour. 1991 to present the developing plans to the public. Houston’s freeway expansion program became very Several options were presented, but attention focused active in the 1980s. In 1989 work was underway to widen on the leading proposal, the “collector-distributor” option. The Loops 289

It retained the 8-lane freeway in the center, adding 4-lane stood by, unable or unwilling keep the plans on track. collector facilities on each side of the freeway to provide The press depicted the expansion as a “24-lane” freeway 8 more freeway lanes. Frontage roads were generally in- when in fact the freeway section was much smaller, and creased to 4 lanes in each direction. Overall, the proposal the potential benefits of the project were not adequately generally had 16 freeway and 24 traffic lanes, with exact reported. lane counts varying from point to point. Right-of-way Was Houston going to succumb to the forces that have acquisition was minimal since high-rise structures lined devastated transportation planning in other cities? Was both sides of the corridor. The proposal did not include this the end of Houston as a forward-looking freeway me- elevated structures and kept all lanes at ground level. tropolis? Fortunately for Houston’s freeways, the answer As soon as the meeting started, however, it became was no. It was, in effect, more like a certain alignment of clear that this would not be a typical freeway hearing. planets had occurred at that particular moment in time in It became more like an anti-freeway rally. Before public Houston freeway planning. Everything that could have comment even began, one public official after another gone wrong in the process did go wrong, so the West stepped up to the podium to bash the proposed collec- Loop expansion died. tor-distributor plan. Most vocal were Houston council By the late 1990s the pavement on the West Loop was members Jim Greenwood, an architect and mass transit crumbling and action was needed. In 1997 and 1998 meet- advocate, and Sheila Jackson-Lee, who promoted inner- ings were held to reach a compromise plan to rebuild the city and minority interests. Greenwood, Jackson-Lee, and freeway as a “no-capacity-added” project. The final plan others called for a greater emphasis on mass transit. The included the addition of new merging lanes at entrance large crowd at the hearing was unusually receptive to the and exit points, better lane balance, major modifications anti-freeway speakers. to the interchange with the Southwest Freeway, and total Possibly the most lethal opposition came from the reconstruction of the interchange at the Katy Freeway Park People, an organization which worked to improve in conjunction with the Katy Freeway expansion. Work park resources in Houston. The West Loop cuts through began on the southernmost section of the West Loop in the western edge of Memorial Park, a wooded area with 1999, and the final contract valued at $262 million for the approximately 1,500 acres of parkland. Three and a half work near the Katy Freeway was awarded in July 2003. acres of Memorial Park were needed to accommodate the The failure of plans to expand the West Loop will have widened freeway. The Park People were not willing to a long-term negative impact on the performance of Hous- accept the loss of a single square foot of parkland for the ton’s freeway system. The importance of the West Loop as freeway, and Jackson-Lee summed up the Park People’s a critical link in Houston’s freeway system will increase in sentiment when she stated, “In this city, any loss of park the future as other freeway projects move forward. In the space cannot be tolerated.” Realistically, users of the near future, the Katy Freeway expansion, the Fort Bend 1,500-acre Memorial Park would never notice the loss of Parkway, and the Westpark Tollway will all feed more 3.5 acres along the western edge of the park, and many traffic onto the West Loop. Longer term, a planned expan- park users would have benefited from the improved ac- sion of the Northwest Freeway and a potential future toll- cess to the park. But in situations such as highway project way along Hempstead Road will bring even more traffic. development, reason often does not prevail and emotions A long-term planning map published by the Harris County can take over.22 Toll Road Authority in 2001 shows a potential toll road Also in November 1991, Houston elected Bob Lanier corridor along the Union Pacific railroad which parallels to become mayor of Houston. If anyone could save plans the West Loop about half a mile (0.8 km) to the east. How- to expand the West Loop, it was Bob Lanier. As chair- ever, the railroad passes through Memorial Park and near man of the Texas Transportation Commission during high-income neighborhoods, and any effort to construct the 1980s, Lanier was a strong advocate for highway the route is certain to be highly controversial. The pro- construction and had been instrumental in dramatically posal appeared to be dead on arrival when it first received increasing TxDOT funding. But Lanier was no longer just wide publicity in June 2003. But it doesn’t take a prophet a highway advocate. He was now a politician. He had to to conclude that transportation demand will overwhelm balance the various issues facing him as he entered office, the West Loop. At some point, the toll road proposal or an and highway construction was just one issue among many. alternative plan—perhaps elevated lanes—will need to be Lanier gave lip service to the expansion plan, but he was given consideration. Houston motorists can only hope for not willing to use up valuable political capital to save it. a more favorable alignment of the planets the next time And it would have taken a lot of capital to keep the expan- traffic relief plans are put on the table.24 sion plans alive.23 How could this happen in Houston? Several factors Home for the Dome had converged to cause the anti-freeway outburst. Vocal The alignment of the South Loop was officially ap- anti-freeway activists were on Houston City Council. The proved by the Texas Transportation Commission in Octo- Houston business community, so often a key supporter of ber 1954. At the time, the prairies south of Houston were freeways, was remarkably silent. The West Loop business a quiet area. There was little residential or commercial community seemed to be missing in action. Bob Lanier development in progress, and the area was semirural. 290 Houston Freeways The Loops 291

(Above) The replacement: This view looks northwest over the Astrodome and its replacement, the $449 million, re- However, Harris County Judge Roy Hofheinz would soon tractable-roof Reliant Stadium. The Houston Texans foot- start contemplating about the future of professional sports ball team played its first game in the stadium on August 24, in Houston, and his vision would find a home on the South 2002. (Photo: The Positive Image) Loop. In the late 1950s local authorities began discussions for a new sports center for the Houston area. In 1958 a stadium location study was completed. Various locations throughout Houston were considered, and a site on the South Loop was rated as number one by both the city of Houston and TxDOT. The accessibility provided by the planned South Loop Freeway and nearby South Freeway was the principal strength of the site, and the land was (Opposite page) Building the Dome: The Astrodome was readily available for sale by millionaire oilman R. E. the world’s first fully enclosed and air-conditioned stadium “Bob” Smith and others.25 when it opened on April 9, 1965. The upper photo, looking The construction of a stadium along a freeway was north, shows the beginnings of the Astrodome in 1962. nothing unusual. But this stadium would be different. Excavation for the Dome was nearing completion and con- Judge Hofheinz wanted a futuristic facility to gain world- struction of the South Loop frontage roads had just begun wide recognition for Houston. His new stadium would be in the lower part of the photo. The frontage roads opened the world’s first fully air-conditioned domed stadium. The in June 1963. The lower photo, looking southeast, shows otherwise nondescript segment of the South Loop would the structural shell of the Dome substantially complete in 1964. The Astrodome was renovated and its seating be distinguished by this first-of-its-kind structure. capacity increased in 1989, but the stadium could not Harris County voters approved $20 million in revenue meet modern standards. The Houston Oilers football team bonds on July 26, 1958, for the domed stadium. However, played its last game in the Astrodome on December 15, the revenue bonds depended on future revenue to be gen- 1996, before moving to Nashville, Tennessee. The Hous- erated by the facility, and the lack of history of revenue ton Astros baseball team played its last game in the Astro- from stadiums made it difficult for Harris County to sell dome on October 9,1999, before moving to the new down- the bonds. The domed stadium moved beyond the talking town baseball stadium. When the NFL awarded Houston stage on January 31, 1961, when voters agreed to replace a new football franchise on October 6, 1999, plans moved the revenue bonds with $22 million in general obligation forward to build a state-of-the-art, retractable-roof football stadium that would also be used by the Houston Livestock bonds, which were backed by general tax revenue. When Show and Rodeo, the Astrodome’s only remaining major the lowest bid for the construction of the dome came in tenant. (Photos: upper, The Positive Image; lower, Hous- at $19,440,000 (excluding excavation, which had previ- ton Photographic and Architectural Foundation Trust) ously been completed for $738,000), it became necessary 292 Houston Freeways

fully installed at a private school in Providence, Rhode Key dates in the history of Loop 610 Island, in 1964. The solution was obvious: the Astrodome Early Loop or bypass routes are first proposed. would become the first major sports venue in the United 1930s States to use artificial turf. The first major league baseball 1941 The first formal study for a bypass loop is completed. game played on Astroturf took place on April 8, 1966. As- 1942 The North Loop is adopted into the state highway troturf would soon become widely used in sports stadiums system as a highway. across the United States.27 1954 The West and South Loops are officially adopted into The South Loop was still a work in progress when the the state highway system as freeways. The North Loop Astrodome was completed in 1965. Frontage roads for is upgraded to freeway status. the freeway were in place near the Astrodome, but to the 1960 The first freeway section of the Loop opens. The East east and west, the South Loop didn’t exist at all. On May Loop is adopted into the state highway system. 16, 1969, a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) section of the South Loop 1962 Houston’s first four-level interchange is completed at main lanes at the Astrodome was opened, completing all the West Loop-Southwest Freeway intersection. of the South Loop except for a short segment west of the Gulf Freeway interchange. Aside from the Astrodome, the 1965 The Astrodome is opened on the South Loop on April 9. South Loop didn’t get any glamorous or distinctive devel- 1970 The Galleria shopping center opens near the West opment. During the 1970s the South Loop became a fa- Loop on November 16, launching the construction boom along the West Loop. vorite location for the large, boxy warehouses of furniture retailers. The furniture retailers would frequently go out 1973 The ship channel bridge opens on March 2. of business or change names, leaving vacant warehouses 1975 The loop is completed on September 22. along the freeway. By the end of the 1970s the furniture 1983 The 899-foot-tall (274 m) Williams Tower is completed warehouse era had largely come and gone. near the West Loop. On March 2, 2002, the Houston Livestock Show and 1992 Plans to expand the West Loop are cancelled due to Rodeo ended its 37-year run in the Astrodome with a opposition. farewell concert attended by former President George H. 2007 Scheduled completion of reconstruction of the West W. Bush and featuring a star-studded list of country music Loop, including a full rebuild of the Katy Freeway performers. A record-setting crowd estimated at 70,200 interchange. packed the Dome for what was expected to be its final major event. It was a bittersweet night for Houston. The to raise more funds with a supplementary bond issue of Dome, once touted as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” $9.6 million to pay for all project costs and site work. The had propelled Houston to international prominence and bonds were approved by Harris County voters on Decem- had been a source of civic pride. Now, it was just another ber 22, 1962, bringing the total bond funds to $31.6 mil- passé relic of the 1960s. The Dome faced an uncertain lion. For comparison, the $31.6 million translates to ap- future in 2003 as Harris County officials searched for proximately 154 million in 2003 dollars. Still, that seems an economic use for the facility. Local preservationists like a bargain by modern standards. The replacement for expressed hope that the Dome could be spared from de- the Astrodome, the retractable-roof Reliant Stadium com- molition.28 pleted in 2002, cost $449 million.26 The South Loop has a more certain future than the Ground was broken for the domed stadium on January Astrodome. The section of the South Loop serving the 3, 1962. The new stadium was officially dedicated on April Astrodome and its replacement, Reliant Stadium, was 9, 1965, when the Houston Astros baseball team played an expanded to 10 main lanes in 1994, providing ample traf- exhibition game against the New York Yankees. fic-carrying capacity. In the long term, there is the possi- Even before the first game, a problem had arisen. The bility of a large new stack interchange at the intersection first time the Houston Astros ventured onto the new field with the proposed Alvin Freeway. The future of the Alvin for practice on April 7, they discovered that the glare from Freeway will be determined by a study expected to be the roof, with its clear plastic panels, made it extremely underway by 2004. difficult to catch fly balls. Sunglasses didn’t help since the area of glare coming from the roof was so large. A quick The Future of the Loop solution was needed to make daytime baseball possible in The reconstruction of the West Loop will continue until the Astrodome. The week of April 19, crews began paint- approximately 2007. As of 2003, there are no major stud- ing the clear roof panels with off-white paint to make the ies planned for the north, east, and south sections of Loop panels opaque rather than transparent. The grass in the sta- 610. For the intermediate future Loop 610 will likely not dium was already struggling before the roof was painted, see major changes. Increasing traffic congestion on the and paint further reduced available sunlight by 25-40%. North Loop may eventually prompt some work on that Artificial turf had recently been developed and success- segment, however. The Loops 293

South Freeway interchange: This wide-angle view looks east along the South Loop at the sprawling South Freeway interchange. This interchange was completed in 1978 and opened to traffic in 1981. (Photo: September 2002)

East Freeway interchange: This view looks north along the East Loop at the East Freeway interchange. This interchange was completed in 1976. (Photo: November 2002)

Sam Houston Parkway/Tollway, Beltway 8

Even before the alignment of Loop 610 had been finalized, the city of Houston was formulating plans for a second loop. It was a remarkable act of vision and foresight to rec- ognize the future importance of loop highways in today’s predominant suburb-to-suburb transportation patterns. However, the first wave of freeway construction in Houston from the 1950s to the 1970s came and went with very little progress on the Beltway. The age of the Houston Beltway arrived with the second wave of Houston freeway construction, which started in the 1980s. By 1996 the entire loop had been constructed in some form—freeway, tollway, or frontage road. Completion of the South Belt main lanes in 1997 left only one segment without main lanes. The phenomenal success of the Sam Houston Tollway, the toll main lanes of Beltway 8, even brought traffic congestion to the western and northern sections of the tollway. Although the main lanes of Beltway 8 are, for the most part, not very interesting, the Beltway has one of the nation’s most impressive collections of modern four- and five-level freeway-to-freeway stack interchanges. The Beltway is also unusual in that its tollway sections have continuous toll-free frontage roads.

Origins Beltway 8 had its origins in a 1952 report by the City Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Parkway/Tollway) of Houston Planning Department, Proposed Location for Designated as freeway 1960 An Outer Belt Drive for Metropolitan Houston. The report First freeway section open 1970 (overpasses only) was prepared as a basis for fixing a location for a mini- 1982 (toll bridge) mum 120-foot-wide (37 m) thoroughfare located four to five miles (6 to 8 km) beyond the city limits, which were Freeway/tollway complete Scheduled 2007 generally located near Loop 610 at the time. The 1952 an- Reconstruction Intermittent pavement nual report of the City of Houston Planning Commission repair only went on to explain, “This report was prepared in view of Max traffic volume, 2001 233,000 vehicles per day the imminent development of much of the area through Future construction Main toll lanes of which the thoroughfare would need to pass and because northeast segment; there will be a great need for such a thoroughfare in the expansion of west and future as the population of the urban area spreads.” At north tollways the time the report did not envision the Outer Belt as a freeway. Ralph Ellifrit, city of Houston planning director, Harris County Commissioner’s Court voted to increase was the individual most responsible for the birth of the the corridor right-of-way width to 300 feet and grant it full Outer Belt. freeway status. Harris County would now be in charge of In September 1954, based on the recommendation of building the 87-mile (139 km) freeway loop. Getting into Ellifrit, the corridor width was increased to 150 feet (46 m) the freeway-building business was a big undertaking for to accommodate a larger arterial highway. Also in 1954, Harris County and would ultimately be more than it could the City of Houston Planning Department performed de- manage on its own. As of April 1960, a 300-foot-wide tailed studies to fix the location of the Outer Belt. Nearly right-of-way corridor had been obtained for only 8 miles all of the alignment defined in that period would become (13 km). Seven miles (11 km) had 150–250 feet (46–76 the ultimate route of today’s Beltway 8.29 m) set aside, and 15 miles (24 km) had 120 feet (36 m) In 1960 Harris County stepped forward and took the or less set aside. For the remaining 57 miles (91 km), no leading role in the development of the Outer Belt. Harris right-of-way had been acquired. However, only 1 mile County Judge Roy Hofheinz appeared before the Houston (1.6 km) was listed as passing through a built-up area with Planning Commission in March to discuss the merits of “damage to buildings.” The projected cost of the Beltway changing the Outer Belt to a full freeway on a minimum was $150 million, still a relatively low cost after adjusting 300-foot-wide (91 m) right-of-way. On July 11, 1960, to 750 million in 2003 dollars.30

(Opposite page) The Southwest Freeway interchange: Beltway 8 gently curves through the interchange, completed in 1997. The Beltway 8/Sam Houston Tollway has an impressive collection of modern, multilevel stack interchanges. (Photo: May 2003) 296 Houston Freeways

��

� ��

��

An Early Patchwork were generally not very useful even to local traffic be- Starting in the 1950s, the city of Houston and Harris cause of their short lengths and lack of connectivity.31 County began to acquire right-of-way and build short One trouble spot for the Outer Belt was already devel- sections of roadway on the Outer Belt alignment as real oping in 1961. The western Outer Belt was aligned to go estate developers donated land and as funding permitted. through the center of the municipality of Jersey Village In 1958, one of the early sections to open was a 2.5-mile northwest of Houston. Jersey Village was just outside (4 km) section of the East Beltway built as a two-lane the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the Houston Planning roadway north of today’s Business Route 90 (Beaumont Commission, so the commission had no power to approve Highway). That section was made possible by a land do- or reject development plans and could not protect the free- nation from a real estate developer and was constructed way right-of-way from development. Houston Planning to provide access to the development. By the late 1960s, Director Ralph Ellifrit raised an alarm to TxDOT that the short sections of frontage roads, or in some cases only one freeway right-of-way was at risk of being developed. The side of the frontage roads, were open in southeast Hous- right-of-way was not protected, and plans for residential ton near the Gulf Freeway and in west Houston south of development in Jersey Village proceeded in the path of the the Katy Freeway. Harris County constructed a section of proposed Outer Belt.32 frontage roads in Pasadena in 1971. These short sections The only rumbling of community opposition in the The Loops 297

Controversy: Beltway 8 West through the Memorial Bend subdivision was one of the two controversial sections of the Beltway. In 1962 residents of Memorial Bend attempted to have the Beltway realigned three miles west to follow the present-day Dairy Ashford Road, but the increased cost of the longer alignment resulted in its rejection by the Houston Planning Commission on June 19, 1962. The map at left, from the original Outer Belt location studies conducted circa 1954, shows the approximate alignment (in red) that was requested by Memorial Bend residents. As part of the preparation of the environmental impact statement for the West Belt in 1975, a study to determine the feasibility of alterna- � tive routes was completed. The only possible alternative route for �� the West Belt was determined to �� be SH 6, six miles to the west. The SH 6 route was infeasible due to �� cost and other impacts. This sec- �� tion of the Beltway, which opened �� in 1988, has a highly unusual short section of a two-way frontage road, visible on the right side of the photo. (Photo: May 2002; map, city of Houston records) 298 Houston Freeways

early development of the Outer Belt occurred in 1962 sidered ways to avoid the Memorial Bend subdivision, but when residents of the Memorial Bend subdivision in west because west Houston had become so heavily urbanized Houston objected to plans to align the Outer Belt through by that time, the only other possible alignment was six their neighborhood. The neighborhood requested a re- miles (10 km) to the west on SH 6. The SH 6 route was alignment of the freeway at a meeting of the City Planning ruled infeasible due to greatly increased cost, as well as le- Commission on June 5, 1962. The proposed realignment gal and administrative issues. Although opposition in Me- would have shifted the Outer Belt three miles (5 km) west morial Bend lingered, the route of the freeway through to Dairy Ashford Road. The request was denied on June the neighborhood was effectively finalized in 1975. An- 19, 1962, primarily because of the substantially increased other community affected by the Beltway, Jersey Village, cost of routing the freeway westward. The West Belt re- would continue to be a flash point of controversy through mained on its originally planned route.33 the 1970s.35 The first section of the Outer Belt to be constructed as anything resembling a freeway was the North Belt near Dark Days Bush Intercontinental Airport. The original plan for the The adoption of Beltway 8 into the state highway sys- airport was described in an October 1961 engineering tem in 1969 seemed to be good news for the freeway, but report titled Plan of Development, Jetero Intercontinental it came at a time when TxDOT was about to descend into Airport. In its section about roadway access, the report a financial crisis that drastically curtailed its ability to con- stated, “It is recommended strongly that the North Belt struct new freeways and made large, costly projects like Drive between US 59 and Interstate 45 and its connect- Beltway 8 impossible. Starting in the early 1970s, high- ing link to the airport be way construction infla- constructed as soon as “We do not anticipate any improvements by the tion spiraled out of con- possible.” Progress on State on Beltway 8 in the next 20-year period.” trol and transportation this section was delayed funding was stagnant due to voter rejection TxDOT Houston district head Omer Poorman to Houston or shrinking. Houston’s of a county bond ref- mayor Fred Hofheinz, November 12, 1976 boom was driving up erendum in 1963, but a property values, mak- successful bond referen- ing right-of-way acqui- dum in January 1966 authorized $14.8 million in funding sition costly. In September 1975, referring to Beltway for the Outer Belt. The North Belt frontage roads were 8, the chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission completed in February 1970, shortly after the opening of Reagan Houston III stated, “Our funds have diminished the airport on June 8, 1969. and our expenses are escalating which leaves little left for The construction of the North Belt made Harris County new construction.” 36 realize it had bitten off more than it could chew with the As TxDOT was backing away from new projects and full Outer Belt. In June 1967 Harris County was already seemed willing to let Beltway 8 die from neglect, respon- requesting assistance from TxDOT for the construction sibility for saving the Beltway shifted back to Harris of the North Belt-North Freeway interchange. The cost County. TxDOT couldn’t afford to build it. Harris County of just the right-of-way for the 87.5-mile (140 km) Outer couldn’t afford to build it. The only remaining option was Belt would probably be more than the county could bear. a toll road. In May 1975 Harris County asked the Texas Responding to requests from local officials, the Texas Turnpike Authority to study the west and northwest sec- Transportation Commission officially adopted the Outer tions of the Beltway as a potential tollway. The Turnpike Belt into the state highway system on March 7, 1969. Authority concluded that the route was financially infea- In July 1969, the Outer Belt was officially designated as sible as a tollway. Harris County Judge Jon Lindsay was Beltway 8.34 starting to doubt that the Beltway would ever be built, and Starting in 1972, TxDOT began engineering and envi- was considering reallocating funds set aside for right-of- ronmental studies for Beltway 8. Numerous public hear- way acquisition.37 ings for all sections of the Beltway were held in 1975 as Plans for Beltway 8 reached a low point in August 1976 part of the preparation of the environmental impact state- when a comprehensive study of TxDOT’s highway con- ment. The schematics presented at the 1975 meetings struction program conducted by the McKinsey consulting showed a minimum of eight freeway main lanes with a firm developed two possible scenarios for the future of 28-foot-wide (8.5 m) central median and a right-of-way Houston’s freeways, one with expected funding levels corridor that had a minimum width of 420 feet (128 m). and one with an increased level of funding. The Beltway The corridor width would later be downsized to a typical was not included in either plan. Based on the results of width of about 300 feet (91 m) due to funding shortfalls, a this study, the head of the Houston district of TxDOT, decision which may ultimately come back to haunt Hous- Omer Poorman, conveyed the following grim message to ton’s highway planners. For the western segment that in- Houston Mayor Fred Hofheinz in a letter dated November cluded the Memorial Bend subdivision, a special study 12, 1976, “We do not anticipate any improvements by the titled Investigation of a Possible Relocation of West Belt- State on Beltway 8 in the next 20-year period.” 38 way 8 was undertaken by an interdisciplinary team. It con- But Houston was not going the let the Beltway die. As The Loops 299

The West Belt: This view looks north along the West Belt at the Westchase commercial district. �� This section of tollway opened in 1988. (Photo: May 2002) ��

�� with many freeway projects in Houston’s history, the real that the Houston Ship Channel Bridge estate and land development community stepped forward on Beltway 8 East was feasible and is- to lobby for the Beltway, forming an organization called sued $102 million in bonds (approxi- the Transportation Development Group which focused mately 234 million in 2003 dollars) to on getting the Beltway built. At the urging of the Trans- build the bridge and adjacent sections portation Development Group, Harris County authorized of tollway. In June 1979 TxDOT � another tollway study in 1976. In 1977 there was more began to take a more active role in bad news. The Texas Turnpike Authority once again con- moving the Beltway 8 frontage roads cluded that the west and northwest sections of the Beltway forward to construction, authorizing �� were infeasible as a tollway but kept the project within its its staff to prepare plans and acquire �� consideration for future study.39 right-of-way in the controversial �� section through the Memorial Bend The Tide Turns neighborhood in west Houston. At a The prospects for Beltway 8 began to improve by late May 20, 1980, public hearing about the Memorial Bend 1977. TxDOT received additional funding from the Texas plans, the Houston Post reported “unexpected strong pub- Legislature in 1977, allowing it to formulate a new plan lic support for construction of the long-delayed Memorial of highway priorities. The new plan released in December Bend section.” TxDOT also began working on plans for 1977 restored frontage roads for a key section of Beltway frontage roads on other sections of Beltway 8 around 8 West between the Northwest and Southwest Freeways. Houston.40 Harris County realized that the key task at hand to save By 1980 the controversy surrounding the alignment the Beltway was to preserve right-of-way in rapidly ur- of the Beltway through Jersey Village had been resolved, banizing sections of the city, especially west Houston. In allowing the Beltway to move forward. Opposition 1978 Harris County authorized the use of bond funds for first became vocal in 1973 when the Village Council purchasing right-of-way for Beltway 8 West. Also in the held hearings where it stated its opposition to plans. As summer of 1978, the Texas Turnpike Authority concluded TxDOT continued with the environmental process in 300 Houston Freeways

1975, the plans showed the freeway on its original route, nearly all the major right-of-way acquisition events in the right through the middle of Jersey Village on an elevated history of Houston’s freeway system and remains active in structure. Two years later in 1977, key players including her position in 2003. TxDOT, the city of Houston, and landowners outside of When Letz was asked to name the most difficult or Jersey Village were sticking to plans to build the freeway challenging right-of-away acquisition in her career, through Jersey Village. But opposition in Jersey Village without hesitation she responded, “Beltway 8 in west continued to build, and in 1977 a bill was introduced in Houston.” Really? This section of Beltway 8 included the the Texas Legislature to require TxDOT to route the free- short controversial section through the Memorial Bend way around Jersey Village. The bill did not become law, subdivision, but the rest of it was through undeveloped, but TxDOT was forced to respond to the opposition and vacant property. What could be so difficult about buying realigned the Beltway to avoid Jersey Village. Plans to up vacant land? align the Beltway on the east side of Jersey Village didn’t It was all a matter of timing. Efforts to acquire right-of- make everyone happy. At a public hearing on January way were underway at the peak of Houston’s oil boom in 8, 1980, several hundred residents, a “loud delegation” the late 1970s and early 1980s. Land values were increas- mostly from the subdivision to the east of Jersey Village, ing at a rate of about 30% per year, so quickly that it was turned out to oppose the new alignment. In spite of the nearly impossible to acquire property using the normal opposition, the eastern alignment was adopted. It would procedures. Typically there was a 60- to 90-day cycle for be the only major shift in the original planned alignment property appraisal, offer preparation, and obtaining ap- of the Beltway, but it would be a substantial shift as the proval from TxDOT headquarters in Austin. In that time Beltway snaked its way around Jersey Village.41 period the appraisal would become obsolete due to the Momentum was now on the side of Beltway 8. It would rapid escalation in property values. It was a losing battle, still take the dedicated efforts of a project champion to and the cost of right-of-way for the freeway went up as get the main lanes built. Now that the Beltway had been every month passed. Another complication was the ad- saved, County Judge Jon Lindsay would take the lead in ministrative procedure for acquiring land. Harris County getting it built.42 was responsible for acquiring all property and would then As early as 1977 Lindsay had begun to realize that be reimbursed by TxDOT for 90% of the cost. Harris Harris County would need to take matters into its own County simply did not have the cash on hand to expedite hands if it wanted to see a tollway constructed in the fore- the process. It would make a purchase, wait for the 90% seeable future. At the time, he stated that Harris County reimbursement to restore its bank account, and then pro- should be responsible for the Beltway toll road rather ceed to the next purchase. than the Texas Turnpike Authority (TTA). However, real Landowners along the western section of the Beltway progress toward the formation of the Harris County Toll were seeing their hopes for real estate riches evaporate Road Authority would not occur until 1982. By mid-1982 with the endless delays to the freeway. Just as land devel- controversy surrounding the proposed Hardy Toll Road oper Frank Sharp had organized a group of landowners in had caused the TTA to back away from its plans to build 1957 to donate land for the Southwest Freeway to expe- the tollway. Previously the TTA’s feasibility studies had dite its construction, landowners along Beltway 8 West rejected the West Belt as a tollway candidate. It appeared formed an organization called the Beltway 8 Group and that the TTA’s Beltway 8 ship channel bridge would be its submitted a proposal to TxDOT in June 1982. The land- only project in the Houston area. In August 1982 Lindsay owners would lock in their property values at existing ap- instructed the county attorney to investigate if the county praisals that were between 1 and 2.5 years old. In return, could create its own toll road authority. It turned out that TxDOT would agree to begin construction on the frontage special legislation would be needed. The legal authority roads as soon as all the land could be acquired, which was for Harris County to form a toll road authority came with originally contemplated to be as short as five months. Texas Legislature Bill SB970, signed by Governor Mark There were 23 parcels of property on the five-mile (8 km) White in June 1983. Harris County then set a $900 mil- segment of Beltway 8 that needed to be acquired, and the lion bond election for September 13, 1983, to launch the selling price was locked in at $36.8 million. The landown- Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA). The bonds ers’ concession was estimated to save TxDOT about $17 were passed with 69.7% of the vote. The west and north million.43 Beltway 8 main lanes would be built as a tollway. It was a deal TxDOT couldn’t refuse, so it was quickly approved. But there was a problem. Harris County was The Biggest Challenge still responsible for the actual land purchase, and the As the nation’s highway building program built mo- county didn’t have the money to finance the purchases. mentum in the 1950s and large-scale construction of the An overhaul of the land acquisition process was needed. Interstate Highway System was launched in 1956, the By February 1983 the “re-engineered” process was in people who would build the highways joined the national place. Harris County would pay its 10% share of the right- effort. One such person was Carol Letz, who served in of-way cost, then TxDOT would do all the acquisition. As various roles in right-of-way acquisition in the Houston soon as the agreement was finalized, TxDOT’s right-of- TxDOT office starting in 1957. Letz was involved in way acquisition machine went into high gear, acquiring The Loops 301

The most difficult right-of-way to acquire in the history of Houston’s freeway system: This vacant land in the path of the West Belt between Westheimer and the Southwest Freeway (US 59) looks deceptively easy to acquire, but in fact it was the most challenging right-of-way to obtain in the history of Houston’s freeway system. Efforts to acquire this �� right-of-way were underway at the peak of Houston’s energy boom in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Land values were increasing at the rate of about 30% per year, so quickly that � standard right-of-way acquisition procedures did not work. Approval of property appraisals typically required 60 to 90 days, but during that time the appraisals would become obsolete. �� It was a losing battle, and property values were escalating every month. �� Landowners who wanted to see the project move forward struck a deal with TxDOT to lock in property values, allowing TxDOT to complete land acquisition. As part of the deal, TxDOT agreed to begin construction of the frontage roads as soon as the right-of-way was acquired. �� Construction began in 1983 and was completed in December 1985. This project launched the wave of construction that would build nearly the entire beltway by 1996. (Photo: Texas State Library & Archives Commission, June 1982)

Transformation: These views looking east along the North Belt at the North Freeway show the progression of development along the freeway in the Greenspoint area. The upper view on the opposite page shows the construction of the North Belt frontage roads in 1968. The frontage roads were constructed to provide access to Bush Intercontinental Airport, which �� opened on June 8, 1969. The lower photo on the opposite page was taken circa 1978. Greenspoint Mall opened in 1976 and development of offices, apartments, and retail cen- �� ters was gaining momentum. The development boom of the Greenspoint area was largely �� complete by the mid-1980s. The Beltway 8 main lanes east of IH 45 in the Greenspoint � �� area were completed in 1984, and the Sam Houston Tollway connection west of IH 45 was �� completed in 1990. The Greenspoint area matured in the 1990s and started to succumb to

suburban decay. Local business groups worked hard to maintain the area and succeeded in ��

�� stabilizing it. The suburban development story of Greenspoint culminated with the construction of the stack interchange. The first phase of the North Freeway interchange opened in �� 1997, and the full interchange was completed in early 2003. The above photo was taken in September 2002 as construction of the interchange was nearing completion. (Photos: opposite upper, The Positive Image; opposite lower, HMRC MSS 287 HH-935-B; above, September 2002) 304 Houston Freeways

Success: By the late 1990s traffic congestion was a daily occurrence on the West Belt. This view looks north near Kempwood during the afternoon rush hour. The heavy traffic on the Belt- �� way has been a financial windfall for the Harris County Toll Road Authority, enabling it to expand the toll road system. Projects to expand the West and North sections of the Sam Houston Toll- way, from the Southwest Freeway to the North Freeway, to eight lanes began in 2002 and are scheduled to be complete by 2005. Expansion work in progress can be seen in the distance in this photo (the light-colored concrete). (Photo: September 2002) � $25 million in property within and the newly created Harris County Toll Road Author- �� the next few weeks. It was still ity would push the Beltway into reality over the next 13 a challenging task, and one day years. TxDOT constructed the frontage roads and sections before a decision had to be made of main lanes on the North Belt and East Belt, as well about whether the first contract as most of the interchanges at intersecting freeways. The could be awarded on the agreed- section of frontage roads included in the Beltway 8 Group �� to date, the right-of-way acqui- funding agreement was opened in December 1985. After sition job was not complete. On that, frontage road sections opened regularly around the �� the decision day at 8:15 A.M., Beltway, culminating with the opening of the final section Letz received the final right-of- to complete the circular loop in southeast Houston near access needed for the project. Hobby Airport in 1996. HCTRA took on the job of build- The job would go to bid, and the construction of Beltway ing the main lanes as a tollway, with initial work focusing 8 West was soon underway.44 on the West Belt and North Belt. The contract award for the short length of frontage roads in west Houston in 1983 marked the beginning of Sam Houston Tollway, Cash Cow the wave of construction that would build Beltway 8. Proceeding with construction of the Beltway 8 Toll For 30 years the Beltway had moved forward one inch Road was somewhat of a leap of faith for Harris County at a time, and often stood still. But now, TxDOT support Judge Jon Lindsay. Revenue studies had rated it as a mar- The Loops 305

ginal, risky project and indicated a strong chance the proj- Key dates in the history of Beltway 8-Sam Houston Tollway ect would lose money. The same study predicted that the Hardy Toll Road would be profitable. But Lindsay pushed 1952 The Outer Belt is first proposed, originally as a major forward with the Beltway Toll Road. In July 1985 a ground arterial street. breaking ceremony was held for the construction of the 1957 The first roads built on the Outer Belt alignment open. first segment of the tollway from the Southwest Freeway 1960 The Outer Belt is designated as a freeway. Harris to the Katy Freeway. In 1986 the Beltway was named the County takes ownership of the project. Sam Houston Parkway and was designated as a scenic 1969 The Outer Belt is adopted into the state highway district to prevent the proliferation of billboards along the system and officially named Beltway 8. frontage roads. The tolled main lanes were designated as 1970 The first substantial section of the Beltway, a section the Sam Houston Tollway. The Beltway became the first of frontage roads, is completed in conjunction with the and only limited-access facility within the city of Houston 1969 opening of Houston Intercontinental Airport. to be named after an individual—the first president of the 1976 The Beltway is near death as the 1970s highway Republic of Texas and namesake of the city of Houston. funding crisis makes new freeway construction The first segment of the Sam Houston Tollway opened impossible. on June 29, 1988. The second section, from the Katy 1977 The Beltway is restored to long-term plans. Freeway to the Northwest Freeway, opened in June 1989, 1982 The Houston Ship Channel toll bridge is opened on and the third section, from the Northwest Freeway to the May 6. North Freeway, opened in July 1990. The Sam Houston Tollway was unusual for a tollway in that it had continu- 1983 Harris county voters approve the creation of the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA). ous, toll-free frontage roads for its full length.45 Even before the first section of the Sam Houston Toll- 1985 In December a section of frontage roads opens in way opened, Harris County officials had substantially southwest Houston, launching the wave of construction that would build the Beltway. lowered traffic and revenue projections. The collapse of Houston’s economy in the mid-1980s and the extended 1988 The first main lanes built by HCTRA open. recession through the late 1980s had made the project’s 1989 Houston’s first five-level stack interchange is completed original traffic projections obsolete. By mid-1989, one at the Katy Freeway. year after the opening of the first section of the Sam Hous- 1994 HCTRA takes ownership of the ship channel bridge ton Tollway and the completion of the Hardy Toll Road, from the Texas Turnpike Authority on May 5. toll revenue was less than 50% of original projections. A 1996 The full Beltway is complete, either as a freeway, revised projection predicted that long-term revenue would tollway, or frontage road. be 40% less than the original estimates. During 1989 there 2005 Scheduled completion of expansion to 8 main lanes on was frequent talk of the possible need for a subsidy from the west and north Sam Houston Tollway. Harris County’s general tax revenue to meet toll road 2007 Scheduled completion of the last remaining section of bond payments. By July 1990, Lindsay was warning that main lanes in northeast Houston. a $20 million annual subsidy from general tax revenue 46 would be needed within two years. �� The third section of the Sam Houston Tollway, from �� the Northwest Freeway to the North Freeway, opened just �� as Lindsay delivered the financial bad news. Soon, how- �� ever, the financial picture began to change. The complete, �� continuous tollway from Southwest Houston to Bush In- �� tercontinental Airport caused a surge in traffic. Just three �� months after section three opened, Harris County officials were stating that a sharp increase in traffic resulting from the completion of section three had postponed the need for a subsidy for at least five years.47 �� The Sam Houston Tollway traffic boom had begun. �� Traffic and revenue surged ahead of projections during the 1990s, making the Sam Houston Tollway a cash cow �� for HCTRA. In the meantime, traffic and revenue on the Hardy Toll Road still lagged behind projections. It turned � out that the original traffic projections in 1984, which pre- �� dicted a successful Hardy Toll Road and a marginal Sam Houston Tollway, had missed the mark on both facilities. �� But the success of the Sam Houston Tollway allowed HCTRA to easily cover the Hardy Toll Road revenue Cash cow: This plot shows traffic volume at the busiest point of the shortfall. Sam Houston Tollway near Westheimer in west Houston. 306 Houston Freeways

Northwest Freeway interchange: This view looks along the southbound Sam Houston Toll- way main lanes. This interchange was completed in 1990. (Photo: May 2003)

Construction: This view looks east along the South Belt at the construction zone for the Gulf Freeway interchange in late 1996. (Photo: Williams Brothers Construction Company) The Loops 307

In the early 1990s HCTRA Executive Director Wesley History of Bush Intercontinental Airport Freise and Lindsay were negotiating with the Texas Turn- Today’s William P. Hobby Airport was the city of pike Authority to take over the financially beleaguered Houston’s first airport, opening in 1937 as Houston Mu- Beltway 8 Houston Ship Channel Bridge, which was fac- nicipal Airport on the site of a private airfield. By the ear- ing an inevitable default on its bonds in 1996. The bridge ly 1950s it became evident that the airport would not be transfer to HCTRA occurred on May 5, 1994. As part of able to meet Houston’s expanding aviation needs. In 1951 the deal, HCTRA received $90 million from TxDOT for the city of Houston contracted for the first study of a sec- the construction of the Sam Houston Tollway between the ond major airport for Houston. The study—known as the La Porte Freeway (SH 225) and the Southwest Freeway Bourne Study—identified three potential airport sites (US 59), as well as TxDOT’s commitment to build inter- along the present-day Beltway in northwest Houston. changes at the Southwest and Gulf Freeways estimated to However, no action was taken after the release of the re- cost $120 million. The southeast section opened in July port. In the early 1950s the second major airport was still 1996, the south section opened in March 1997, and the largely in the discussion stage and officials were not ready southwest section opened in May 1997. With those open- to commit to the new airport. In the meantime, officials ings and additional progress on freeway sections of Belt- moved forward with the construction of a new terminal at way 8 in north and northeast Houston, only one section of Houston Municipal Airport. The terminal design was de- Beltway 8 did not have its main lanes in place. That sec- clared to be inadequate by Houston Mayor Roy Hofheinz tion in northeast Houston, from the Crosby Freeway (US during construction, necessitating changes to correct glar- 90) to the Eastex Freeway (US 59), is expected to begin ing problems. Unfortunately, the planning errors in the construction in 2005 and be completed in 2007 as a toll- terminal proved to be somewhat prophetic about the fu- way. Traffic congestion on the west and north Sam Hous- ture of aviation planning in Houston. In October 1954 the ton Tollway prompted HCTRA to move forward with new terminal opened and the airport was renamed Hous- plans to widen the Sam Houston Tollway to eight main ton International Airport.48 lanes from the Southwest Freeway to the North Freeway. Through the mid-1950s the need for a new airport The widening projects began in 2002 and are scheduled to became increasingly urgent, but city officials were slow be completed in 2005. to take action. In 1957 several events converged to finally move Houston’s second airport forward. While the com- The Airport and the Beltway ing of the “jet age” of commercial air service had been The 1950s was a decade for big infrastructure dreams anticipated since before 1950, it finally arrived in Houston to take root. Houston’s freeway system was put on the on May 20, 1957, when a French-built Caravelle jet ar- map in the early 1950s, and the Beltway was first pro- rived from Miami while on a demonstration tour through posed in 1952. Another important part of Houston’s trans- the United States. The medium-range, twin-engine Cara- portation infrastructure, its major airport, also was taking velle had no difficulty with the short 6,565-foot (2,001 m) shape in the 1950s. As initial planning for a major airport runway at Houston International, but aviation authorities took place, one thing became clear: the airport and the knew that the runway length would not be adequate for Beltway would go hand-in-hand. All potential airport lo- the imminent wave of new jets that would soon arrive cations were located immediately adjacent to the Beltway, from U.S. manufacturers: the Boeing 707, the Douglas and a site along the North Belt was purchased in 1957 and DC-8, and the Convair 880. A planned runway extension officially designated for the airport in 1960. The new air- to 7,300 feet (2,225 m) would be enough to accommodate port provided the impetus for the construction of the first the new jet aircraft for departures to domestic destina- significant section of Beltway 8 in 1970—the only sub- tions, but still would not be adequate for a jet departing stantial section in existence for 12 years until the opening on an overseas flight. It slowly became clear that Houston of the Beltway 8 ship channel toll bridge in 1982. had underinvested in its aviation facilities and was fall- The story of Houston’s major airport is in many ways a ing behind the nation’s other major cities in its aviation contrast to the story of the development of Houston’s free- infrastructure. The Houston Chronicle published a series way network. While local authorities aggressively devel- of articles comparing Houston’s aviation efforts to those oped plans for the first-class freeway network in the early of Dallas. The Chronicle concluded that Houston had 1950s and worked hard to make it happen, the issue of “stood still” in the preceding years while Dallas had a Houston’s airport was plagued by indecision and miscues. well-planned program of promoting its aviation activities. With the help of local business interests, the wheels were Word that Houston is losing ground to its rival Dallas is belatedly set into motion in 1957, and after numerous de- often enough to spur action.49 lays the airport finally opened in 1969. Construction and expansion of roads and freeways around the airport played The Jet Era Arrives and Becomes the Jetero out slowly after the opening of the airport, with significant The most significant event of 1957, however, was momentum finally getting underway in the 1980s and ma- the action of a group of Houston businessmen who ef- jor area-wide construction taking place in the 1990s. fectively took matters into their own hands to move the second airport forward while local authorities dawdled. The group of businessmen formed an entity called the 308 Houston Freeways

The Beltway and the airport—together from the beginning: This 1959 map from the Houston City Planning Depart- ment shows the potential airport sites that were considered. All potential sites were located along the Beltway. The first study for the location for a new airport was conducted in 1951 and identified the three Bourne sites. In 1960 a study delivered the final site recommendation. The “Bourne West #1” location, the preferred site in 1951, was rejected because of high land cost and flight patterns over newly urbanized areas. The “Bourne North #2” site offered no advantages over the Jetero site but would have been more difficult to acquire. The “Bourne Northwest #3” was rejected because of development, including a power plant and high voltage lines. The Addicks Reservoir location was rejected due to the high cost to raise the site above flood level, potential compromise of flood control capability, and flight patterns over urbanized areas. The Blue Ridge prison farm site southwest of Houston was determined to be unsuitable for an airport. The winner: the Jetero site.50

Jet Era Ranch Corporation, which purchased a 3,126-acre typographical error transformed the words “Jet Era” into tract of land 15 miles (24 km) north of downtown Houston the single word “Jetero” in an early planning document. for $1,860,938.27. The group held the property for resale From that point on, the airport site became known as the to the city of Houston at the original purchase price for Jetero airport site. The name Jetero would persist until use as the site of Houston’s new airport. The intended 1983 when it was retired as the name of one of the main name of the land-holding entity—the Jet Era Ranch entrances to the airport.51 Corporation—turned out to be short-lived. A secretary’s While the land was now in hand, several formalities The Loops 309 had to be taken care of. In July 1959 Houston voters approved a $50 million bond issue that included $6 million in airport development funds. In April 1960, in response to Mayor Lewis Cutrer’s request for a comprehensive evaluation of all potential airport sites, a report was issued titled Review and Evaluation of Proposed Major Airport Sites to Serve the Houston Area. This report enumerated the known deficiencies of the existing Houston Interna- tional Airport and identified the Jetero airport site as the only suitable candidate for the new airport. The legal agreements to officially accept the Jetero airport site and make final payment of principal and interest were completed in June 1960.

Planning for the Airport and its Freeways The first engineering report for the new airport,Plan of Development, Jetero Intercontinental Airport, was issued in October 1961. The name of the airport site—”Jetero”— was transferred directly into the new airport name. The The jet era becomes Jetero: The site for Bush Intercontinental Air- 1961 document envisioned a single circular-shaped termi- port was originally purchased by a group of civic-minded Houston businessmen in 1957 to preserve the site until the city of Houston nal with several concourses extending from it. In terms of could formulate a plan for a second airport. The holding company roadways, the document specified access roads that would for the land was named the Jet Era Ranch Corporation, but a typo- be required. Most significant was the call for immediate graphical error transformed the words “Jet Era” into “Jetero” and action to construct the nearby section of the Outer Belt, the airport site subsequently became known as the Jetero airport the present-day Beltway 8. site. Although the name Jetero was no longer used in official plan- The second major airport planning document was is- ning documents after 1961, the eastern entrance to the airport sued in July 1963 and was titled Volume II, Plan of Devel- was named Jetero Boulevard. In 1983, on the recommendation of opment, Terminal Area, Houston Intercontinental Airport. Houston City Council member Eleanor Tinsley, Jetero Boulevard The “Jetero” designation for the airport was gone, but it was renamed Will Clayton Parkway in honor of the cofounder of the Anderson, Clayton & Co. cotton trading firm and undersecretary would find a second life as the name for one of the main of state for economic affairs from 1940 to 1948. Tinsley and other entrance roadways to the airport. This second planning political officials felt that the 1950s-sounding name Jetero was not document detailed the comprehensive study that had been good for Houston’s image. However, nostalgia buffs may have been undertaken in order to determine the best terminal con- disappointed. The name Jetero recalled an era when jet travel figuration for the new airport. Planning officials visited promised to revolutionize travel opportunities—a time when the all the major U.S. airports and had extensive consultations roar of a jet engine or a condensation trail in the sky inspired awe. with airport authorities. Four terminal concepts were se- (Photo: Houston Airport System) lected for detailed study: the mobile lounge, pier, satellite, and unit terminal. The mobile lounge concept, which was spoke operations that would later dictate airport design. in use at Dulles airport near Washington, D.C., featured The city of Houston adopted the unit terminal design on bus-type vehicles that shuttled passengers between the September 9, 1963. main terminal and aircraft. The pier concept most closely The next major engineering report, Volume III, Plan resembled the original design and featured a central unit of Development, Land Use, Houston Intercontinental for all airline operations with pier structures housing Airport, was issued in December 1964. This was the first gates radiating from the central unit. The satellite concept document to provide details on the two planned entrance also featured a single central unit, but aircraft would be roadways, John F. Kennedy Boulevard from the south and grouped around individual satellite buildings that were Jetero Boulevard on the east. The document specified a connected to the main terminal. The unit terminal concept 400-foot (122 m) right-of-way to accommodate eventual featured a series of relatively small, stand-alone terminals construction of limited-access main lanes, frontage roads, constructed along a central mall. and mass transit service. Initially, Kennedy Boulevard The engineers and architects unanimously recom- would be constructed as a four-lane divided roadway and mended the unit terminal design, mainly because it best Jetero Boulevard would be constructed as a four-lane di- met the requirements of flexibility and expandability. In vided roadway within the airport property and a two-lane addition, it would distribute traffic among several - ter roadway between the airport and the Eastex Freeway. minals rather than one terminal, and it would avoid the At this point, all the plans were in place to build the sprawl and long passenger walking distances that would airport. In fact, the initial north-south runway was com- eventually occur in a single-terminal design. Although the pleted in 1964 before any terminal construction. Terminal unit terminal appeared to be the best design at the time, it construction dragged on two years after the scheduled would prove to be less than optimal for the airline hub and completion date in 1967 because of labor problems that 310 Houston Freeways

Airport construction, August 1964: This view looks north-northwest at the construction site for the airport. The north-south runway was already complete and work was underway on the east-west runway in the upper right of the photo. Land for the �� terminal complex between the two runways had been cleared. Due to labor prob- �� lems and project management difficulties experienced by the contractor responsible for the terminal, completion of the airport was delayed two years. Houston Intercon- �� tinental Airport began operations on June 8, 1969. (Photo: Houston Airport System)

plagued the prime contractor, R. F. Ball Construction. Fi- �� nally, on Sunday, June 1, 1969, Houston Intercontinental �� Airport was officially dedicated in a large ceremony featuring an air show, an open house of the entire airport, and the usual political ceremonies. The first regular-service � commercial flight landed one week later on June 8 when �� the airport officially opened for business. Unfortunately, the pattern of aviation miscues in Hous- ton soon reared its head again. It turned out that the lon- from taxiway edges to prevent ground erosion due to jet gest runway at Houston Intercontinental, the 9,400-foot- blast. The new “jet era” airport wasn’t even capable of long (2,865 m) east-west runway, was not long enough handling all jets. To add further insult to injury, Houston’s to allow a fully-loaded wide-body aircraft to take off for rival 250 miles (400 km) to the north had just begun work long-range flights during warm weather conditions. Air on the massive Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. France’s nonstop service to Europe incurred a 10,000- Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport would become pound (4,535 kg) weight penalty due to the short runway. the world’s largest airport and would be served by a In addition, the runways were not thick enough to handle sprawling freeway network. the weight of newly introduced wide-body aircraft, and The next engineering report, Volume IV—Plan of De- the paved area of the taxiways did not extend far enough velopment, Second Stage, was released in April 1971 and The Loops 311

This August 1978 view looks west � Original JFK Boulevard connection ramps, 1970-1992: �� along the North Belt frontage road at the original connection ramps at John F. Kennedy Boule- �� vard. The ramps were dismantled and replaced in 1992 during the construction of the Beltway � main lanes. (Photo: Texas Transportation Institute) ��

�

��

North Belt at JFK Boulevard: This photo shows the same view as the above photo in May 2003. 312 Houston Freeways

full jet service, and in 2003 an all-new, 9,400-foot (2,865 Key dates in the history of Bush Intercontinental Airport m) runway opened. With the addition of the new runway, 1951 The first study of potential airport sites is completed. the airport’s land area exceeded 10,000 acres. The first 1957 Local business leaders purchase the airport site phase of the new Terminal E was dedicated in June 2003. with a land holding-entity called the Jet Era Ranch In 2002, Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport Corporation. ranked as the 8th busiest airport in the United States and 1960 Voters approve bonds for the airport. the 13th busiest airport in the world as measured by total 1969 The airport opens on June 8, 1969, after a long delay in passengers. It was a remarkable level of success for an completing the terminal. airport that had been plagued with so many problems dur- 1981 Terminal C opens, and Continental Airlines begins ing its development and was not ideally situated for airline building its Houston hub operation. hub operations. To complement its world-class freeway 1990 The International Airlines Terminal opens. system, Houston also had an airport that reached world- class status.53 1997 The airport is renamed George Bush Intercontinental Airport/Houston, in honor of nation’s 41st president who The Roads and Freeways served from 1989 to 1993. Improvements to the roads and freeways serving Bush For passenger traffic, the airport is the 8th busiest in 2002 Intercontinental Airport were completed around the time the United States and 13th busiest in the world. of the airport opening in June 1969. The Eastex Freeway 2003 The new $225 million Terminal E opens, with 23 gates. from downtown to the airport entrance was upgraded to full freeway status by 1970. The Beltway 8 frontage roads focused on correcting the airport’s runway shortcomings between the North and Eastex Freeways were opened in as quickly as possible. The 8,000-foot (2,438 m) north- February 1970. The North Freeway had been completed south runway was slated to be lengthened to 12,000 feet in 1963. The southern entrance to the airport, John F. Ken- (3,657 m). Runways and taxiways would be thickened nedy Boulevard, was a four-lane divided highway, and the where necessary. In terms of roadways, the 1971 plan eastern entrance to the airport, Will Clayton Parkway, was reaffirmed previous plans. The cross section view of the a four-lane divided highway inside the airport and a two- entrance roadways, Kennedy and Jetero Boulevards, now lane roadway outside the airport. During the 1970s there showed a 450-foot-wide (137 m) corridor. The document were almost no freeway or roadway improvements in the also included an expanded discussion of mass transit ser- vicinity of the airport. vice to the airport in recognition of the increasingly free- Freeway construction resumed in the mid-1980s. In way-hostile climate of the early 1970s and greater interest 1983 work was underway to construct the Beltway 8 in mass transit. However, it was recognized that a mass main lanes near the airport. The Hardy Toll Road opened transit system was at least 10 to 15 years in the future. in 1987. The 1990s brought a construction boom to air- Perhaps the lowest point in the history of Houston port-area freeways. The Beltway 8 main lanes between Intercontinental Airport—at least psychologically—oc- the North and Eastex Freeways were completed in bits curred in the 1970s when Houston was not a hub airport and pieces, with the final section at the Eastex Freeway and many travelers were forced to make connections at opening in December 2002. A four-level interchange at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. For Houstonians, Kennedy Boulevard with two direct connectors was com- having to connect through Dallas was perhaps the ultimate pleted in 1992. Major expansion of the North Freeway slap in the face. Attracting a large airline to call Houston west of the airport was completed in 1998. Expansion of its home became a top priority of local officials. The the Eastex Freeway was completed in 1999. The Hardy completion of Terminal C in 1981 provided a terminal Toll Road airport connector opened in January 2000. The facility capable of handling a hub operation, and in 1982 five-level stack interchange at Beltway 8 and the North Continental Airlines moved its headquarters to Houston. Freeway saw its first phase open in 1997 and was fully Starting around that time, Continental began building its completed in early 2003. The first connector ramp at the Houston hub. Finally, Houston Intercontinental Airport interchange of the North Belt and Eastex Freeway opened had overcome its growing pains and was now positioned in December 2002, and the second phase, in progress in to propel itself into the upper tier of U.S. airports.52 2003, will add three more direct connector ramps. The 1990s and 2000s saw ongoing improvements to But what about the entrance roadways to the airport? the airport. In 1990, the International Airlines Terminal Will they ever become freeways? In the long run, the Building opened. Later in the 1990s, the circular gate fa- answer to that question is probably yes, but in the short cilities at Terminal A, which had a distinctive 1960s feel and intermediate planning horizons neither John F. Ken- and seemed to be reminiscent of the 1950s-sounding term nedy Boulevard nor Will Clayton Parkway will become “Jetero,” were demolished and replaced with linear gate a freeway. John F. Kennedy Boulevard will be the first to facilities. The circular facilities at Terminal B were re- become a full freeway since only one traffic light needs to tained, however, even as Continental’s hub operation ex- be eliminated. The lightly-travelled Will Clayton Parkway panded into Terminal B. In May 2002, a 6,000 foot (1,829 will probably have to wait a very long time for freeway m) runway was lengthened to 10,000 feet (3048 m) for status. The Loops 313

Will it ever be a freeway? This view looks west along Will Clayton Parkway, the former Jetero Boulevard and one of two entrances to Bush Intercontinental Airport. The roadway is in a frontage road configuration and has a wide right-of-way for its ultimate planned freeway �� status. However, traffic volumes entering the airport on Will Clayton Parkway are low, so �� construction of freeway main lanes is in the distant future. (Photo: May 2002) ��

��

�� Trying to stay one step ahead of suburbia: This view shows subdivisions encroaching on the only complete section of the Grand Parkway in west Houston. Rapid development along the Grand Parkway corridor particularly northwest of Houston prompted officials to move forward with alignment studies in the late 1990s, defining most of the parkway route around Houston by 2002. This view looks north along the Grand Parkway with the Fry Road intersection in the foreground. (Photo: The Positive Image, April 2000) The Grand Parkway, SH 99

The name alone is enough to inspire awe. The great railway era had its Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The American West has its Grand Canyon and Grand Tetons. Baseball, tennis, and golf have their grand slams. And as the crowning achievement of its freeway system, Houston would get its Grand Parkway. It was a freeway befitting of its name: as originally planned, a 130-mile (208 km) mega- loop around Houston that lassoed the two inner loops and the web of spoke freeways. But bringing grand dreams to reality is another matter. The big freeway plans of most major cities died in the 1970s, including Houston’s Grand Parkway. Even today, cities that urgently need second outer loops, such as Atlanta and Washington, D.C., have no hope of actually seeing proposed wide outer loops become reality. But what really makes something grand? In the case of the Grand Parkway, its grand- ness is its mere existence. The Grand Parkway came back to life in the early 1980s, and its first section was opened in 1994. As of 2003, it appears that most, and probably all, of the Grand Parkway will ultimately be constructed. Building a wide outer loop will be a grand achievement—perhaps something that no other major city will be able to do. If and when the day comes that the Grand Parkway is complete, Houston will be in a class of its own.

Origins The first discussions of a third loop around Houston freeway, however. By October 1966 the full vision of the began in April 1961 with talk of the “inter-county loop.” corridor was made public by the City of Houston Planning The Houston City Planning Commission conceived the Department. The corridor would connect a series of large route and began discussions with surrounding counties. parks and lakes around the perimeter of Houston. The free- The inter-county loop was contemplated to be a highway way corridor itself would be very wide, up to thousands of or major arterial street about 17 miles from downtown feet wide, to promote its parklike qualities. The freeway Houston and about 5-6 miles outside the Outer Belt (now and accompanying parks would be a refuge for city dwell- Beltway 8). It would have followed existing routes, in- ers in the future Houston of 1990, which was projected to cluding Highway 6 and FM 1960 around west and north have a population of 3.1 million. The new freeway loop Houston, and Battleground Road in east Houston. Some would be the centerpiece of a plan to provide the growing new roadways would have been required south of Hous- city with adequate recreation opportunities. The freeway ton in Galveston and Brazoria Counties.54 corridor was named the Grand Parkway.56 Serious consideration of a larger freeway loop that In 1968 the Planning Commission published a map evolved into the Grand Parkway began in 1964. In Oc- titled Houston Preliminary General Study Plan for 1990, tober 1965, plans for the Grand Parkway became public. showing the Grand Parkway as a park belt around the city The Houston City Planning Commission released a draft of Houston. The concept of the Grand Parkway as a park version of the 1966 Major Thoroughfare and Freeway corridor was short-lived. The lakes proved to be unpopu- Plan showing the new third loop on the official planning lar with landowners and were not seriously considered. A map. The proposed 130-mile (208 km) belt would be 20 to similar map published in 1972 did not include the Grand 25 miles (32 to 40 km) away from downtown and would Parkway or any of its associated parks and lakes. The actually be about seven-eighths of a complete loop since Grand Parkway freeway was not affected by the demise it did not include the southeast section from IH 10 East to of plans for parks and preserves, and remained on the the southeast terminus at Galveston Bay south of Kemah. official long-range transportation planning maps for the The City Planning Commission approved the route and Houston region. The 1970s, however, would not be kind scheduled a public hearing for February 17, 1966. The to freeways, especially costly long-range projects such as Houston Chronicle enthusiastically endorsed the new the Grand Parkway.57 route, saying, “No sensible citizen can doubt that this freeway will be needed eventually.” The route was adopted Grand Dreams and Harsh Reality into the region’s official long-range plan.55 As the financial problems at TxDOT developed into As of early 1966, the third loop did not have a name. a full-blown crisis in the mid-1970s, local officials were Since Houston already had a loop and an outer belt, there forced to drastically curtail plans for new freeways. The was no obvious name. Houston Mayor Louie Welch re- downsizing of freeway plans was detailed in a compre- ferred to it as the “way out loop” and some news reports hensive 1976 report which provided a blueprint for sus- called it the “extreme outer belt.” The City Planning taining TxDOT in its new era of diminished resources. Commission had more plans for the corridor than just a The report gutted Houston’s planned freeway system and 316 Houston Freeways

��

� ��

��

effectively called for the cancellation of Houston’s second Resurrection loop, the Beltway 8, by not recommending any future In early 1982 two men decided to bring the Grand Park- work on the facility. While Beltway 8 was struggling for way back to life. One was a prominent real estate agent in its life, the chances of ever building the Grand Parkway west Houston; the other, an engineer for the consulting diminished.58 firm Turner, Collie & Braden, Inc. It was the beginning The Grand Parkway had not been adopted into the of a new era in Houston—an era in which those who ben- state highway system by the Texas Transportation Com- efited the most from new freeways would take the lead in mission. It was still just a line on the map of the regional getting the new freeways built. The engineer, Al Knipe, long-range transportation plan and was officially under envisioned a lucrative pot of engineering and consulting the jurisdiction of the city of Houston. In 1976, just 10 contracts if the Parkway were built. The real estate agent, years after it was officially added, the regional planning Jack Hooper, handled real estate transactions for a promi- agency deleted the Grand Parkway from its long-range nent family that co-owned the 5,416-acre Cinco Ranch, transportation plan. Only a small section southeast of a planned real estate development which was in the path Houston from SH 146 to near Alvin still remained on the of the Grand Parkway. Hooper realized the potential to long-range planning map.59 substantially increase property values by constructing the Grand Parkway, so he began to seek donations of land for the freeway. Soon Knipe and Hooper had obtained written Grand dreams, but only the freeway remains: Plans for the Grand Parkway were first made public in October 1965. The planned freeway was included in the 1966 official regional transportation plan. Also in 1966, the City of Houston Planning Department unveiled plans to transform the parkway into a wide belt of parks and lakes around the periphery of Houston, as shown in this 1968 planning map which depicted the parkway alignment as a wide park strip. The idea of building parks and lakes in association with the Grand Parkway quickly faded, but the Grand Parkway transportation corridor remained. commitments for land donations for eight miles (13 km) were working very successfully to secure right-of-way of 300-foot-wide (91 m) freeway right-of-way, verbal donations. Knipe and Hooper’s efforts received further commitments for another eight miles, and a list of other support from a November 1982 TxDOT study on the fu- landowners who were potentially interested.60 ture transportation needs of Texas. The report concluded Knipe and Hooper soon wondered: Why not build the that a third highway loop in Houston would be needed as entire Grand Parkway on donated right-of-way? Based on early as 2002, especially in far west Houston.61 the favorable response from landowners and with unani- By early 1984 local politicians, real estate develop- mous support from local political officials, it seemed as ers, business organizations, and transportation inter- if it could be done. In addition to the efforts of Knipe and ests were pushing hard to move the project forward and Hooper, county officials in Fort Bend County southwest get the Grand Parkway reinstated to official long-range of Houston and Montgomery County north of Houston planning documents. By May 1984 the Grand Parkway 318 Houston Freeways

was restored to the long-range plan, and in 1985 it was rural lifestyle, and the financial payoff from the Grand back on the official transportation planning map.62 Parkway would be sometime in the distant future. Other At a special session of the Texas Legislature in June property owners didn’t want their property severed. Inevi- 1984 to address education and transportation, a new state tably there would be some litigation. A more realistic goal law was passed authorizing the formation of nonprofit would be to obtain 80-90% of the right-of-way through transportation corporations. Transportation corporations donations, and as time went on, even that percentage would accept donations of land and money to be used in would become impossible. developing highway projects. The idea was for the trans- Second, the cost of preconstruction work turned out portation corporation to perform all needed work up to the to be very high. The Grand Parkway Association needed point of construction, including right-of-way acquisition, to obtain financial donations from landowners to pay for environmental studies, and engineering. TxDOT would preconstruction costs, which were reported at $360,000 then pay for the actual construction. The Texas Transpor- per mile in 1985. The collapse of Houston’s economy tation Commission authorized the formation of the Grand in 1986 and accompanying free fall in property values Parkway Association as a transportation corporation on greatly diminished landholders’ enthusiasm for making October 25, 1984. In 1985 the commission approved cash contributions.64 several sections of the Grand Parkway for state-funded Third, the freewheeling business dealings of the Grand construction—if and when the Grand Parkway Associa- Parkway Association came under closer scrutiny in 1986. tion could get those segments ready for construction. At issue were potential conflicts of interest because some The Grand Parkway Association had an important ally of the association’s directors owned property or had busi- and promoter on the Texas Transportation Commission: ness interests tied to the Parkway’s proposed route around Houstonian and commission chairman Bob Lanier. Lanier Houston. The Texas Transportation Commission adopted was pushing for increased private-sector involvement in new rules in April 1986, prohibiting individuals with new highways to stretch state highway construction real estate interests from serving as directors of private dollars as far as possible. Lanier was helping the Grand transportation corporations. Three of the five directors of Parkway effort to showcase what he hoped would be the the Grand Parkway Association, including the executive wave of the future. Not only would the local participation director, were forced to resign.65 save TxDOT a lot of money, but the use of state funds (as It became clear that the Grand Parkway Association opposed to federal funds) to construct the facility would would need to take the project one step at a time. Around eliminate the need for costly and time-consuming environ- 1987 effort was refocused on the western segment that mental impact studies. Lanier’s ownership of a large tract originally inspired Knipe and Hooper to resurrect the of land along the proposed parkway route in northwest Grand Parkway in 1982. Harris County would later become a point of controversy in his support for the Grand Parkway, however. Building the First Section The now-official Grand Parkway Association set up In 1987 the Grand Parkway Association worked to an office and lined the walls with maps and aerial photo- finalize the route of the western segment between the graphs. Engineers worked to plot out a route where they Katy Freeway (IH 10) and the Southwest Freeway (US could obtain donated right-of-way and avoid existing 59), but there was one complication. A landowner just structures to keep costs low. Progress seemed to be good. south of the Katy Freeway didn’t want the freeway to Officials inMontgomery County north of Houston report- pass through her property and was threatening litigation ed in February 1985 that they had obtained commitments to move the alignment to the edge of her property. It was for 95% of the right-of-way for the section between the ironic that this landowner was Vivian Smith, widow of North Freeway (IH 45) and the Eastex Freeway (US 59). oil and real estate magnate R. E. “Bob” Smith. Probably In trying to identify and obtain a 170-mile-long (272 km) no one else in Houston had used Houston’s burgeoning freeway corridor, the Grand Parkway Association was at- freeway system in the 1950s and 1960s as a vehicle for tempting to perform a task that would normally take 10 generating real estate wealth better than Bob Smith. Bob years or more. In fact, officials had been busy acquiring Smith had astutely bought large tracts of land along free- right-of-way for the Beltway 8 for the previous 30 years, way corridors, especially the West Loop near the Galleria, and efforts still weren’t complete. Building a huge outer and cashed in as the freeways and booming city pumped loop in a short time of approximately 10 years was a lofty up property values. Regardless of the wealth that freeways goal, but it seemed possible at the time.63 had contributed to her estate, Vivian Smith didn’t want a freeway through her property. In spite of objections from Not So Fast Smith and others, in March 1988 the Texas Transporta- It didn’t take long for reality to set in. First, it would be tion Commission approved the planned alignment of the impossible to obtain 100% or close to 100% of the right- Grand Parkway through Smith’s property. The case would of-way from donations. While large landowners were typ- eventually be settled in court years later, after the death of ically more than willing to donate the needed land, small Vivian Smith in 1989.66 landowners and farmers were more difficult to convince. In the meantime, the Grand Parkway Association was The parkway would disrupt their farming operations and scrambling to come up with the money to fund its end of The Loops 319 the deal to provide all land and preconstruction services. mined that each section between radial freeways, called By 1989 it became clear that there would be a shortfall. If segments of independent utility, could be studied indi- the Grand Parkway’s first segment would be constructed, vidually. In 2001 environmental groups attempted to use TxDOT was going to have to pick up a share of the cost federal air quality regulations to kill the Grand Parkway that was originally intended to be the responsibility of the and other highway projects.68 Grand Parkway Association. The association was still In a 1996 report titled Road to Ruin, prepared by the optimistic that construction could begin in the summer groups Friends of the Earth and Taxpayers for Common of 1989. Sense, the Grand Parkway was listed among 22 nation- But there was an even bigger hurdle looming: environ- wide highway projects that the groups identified as most mental issues. By 1989 there were already disputes about wasteful and environmentally damaging. The 1999 version the level of environmental studies needed for the project. of the report listed the Grand Parkway as the fifth worst The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service held up approval of project in the nation among the 50 that were listed.69 the western segment, saying that a comprehensive study Still, there was near-unanimous political support for of the impact of the entire Grand Parkway was needed. the construction of the Grand Parkway and particularly The Army Corps of Engineers sided in favor of the high- strong political support from outlying counties, especially way and had no objections to its construction. On Feb- Fort Bend County southwest of Houston. The reason ruary 20, 1991, after nearly two years of stalemate, the was simple: growth was going to occur with or without Department of the Interior refused to support the Fish and the Grand Parkway. The environmentally sensitive areas Wildlife Service’s request for a broader study and autho- around Houston would likely be urbanized—it was only a rized the Army Corps of Engineers to issue a permit for matter of time. There was no mechanism to stop or even filling wetlands. Construction on the 19-mile (30 km) seg- slow growth in any region around Houston. Officials ment was underway by the end of 1991. The west Grand could look to any number of cities in the United States Parkway was officially dedicated on August 30, 1994, in that had curtailed freeway construction in the 1970s but a large ceremony in Sugar Land near the south end of the still sustained ongoing and unstoppable sprawl. Proactive segment. Only about three miles (5 km) of the segment planning was needed to avoid the transportation quag- were constructed to full freeway standards. The rest con- mires that cities such as Washington, D.C. and Seattle sisted of main lanes or frontage roads, and was designed had gotten themselves into. The choice was clear: growth to be easily upgradeable to full freeway status with the and sprawl with adequate transportation infrastructure, or construction of overpasses.67 growth and sprawl with inadequate transportation infra- The first section of the Grand Parkway was built. It structure and lower quality of life. wasn’t easy, and building future sections wouldn’t be any As an added plus for the Grand Parkway, officials with easier. the Grand Parkway Association were touting its parkway- like qualities. Since most of the Grand Parkway would In the Crosshairs of Environmentalists not have frontage roads, it would truly be a parkway in the The dispute regarding the level of environmental study sense that it would not be lined with commercial establish- required for the first segment of the Grand Parkway was ments and billboards like most other Houston freeways. not the end of the story. In fact, it was just the beginning. Local officials painted a particularly grim vision of the Stopping the Grand Parkway became one of the top future without the Grand Parkway. Suburbanites would be priorities of environmental groups, especially the Sierra forced onto country roads that would be upgraded to arte- Club and the Audubon Society. The proposed route of the rial streets. The roads would subsequently be lined with Grand Parkway traversed through regions with environ- strip malls and signage. Traffic lights would proliferate. mental issues far more serious than any other Houston The nightmarish stretch of FM 1960 in north Houston be- freeway had faced. The segment west of Houston between tween the North and Northwest Freeways, with its endless the Katy and Northwest Freeways crossed the Katy Prai- traffic lights, commercial clutter, and traffic congestion, rie, a wintering ground for migratory birds. Southwest of would become the harsh reality of the future. Environ- Houston, the route crossed the Brazos River bottomland mentalists held steady in their opposition, but it seemed hardwood forest and came near Brazos Bend State Park, a that local interests opposing specific sections of the Grand park with a large wildlife population. Northeast of Hous- Parkway recognized the need for the parkway—they just ton, the route passed near Lake Houston State Park. North didn’t want it in their backyards. of Houston near the community of Spring and southeast The Grand Parkway opposition never gained critical of Houston near the community of Sante Fe, residents mass. Opposition by environmental groups was often vo- were vocal that they did not want the freeway nearby. But cal, but the near-unanimous support of the Houston-area more than anything else, environmentalists were opposed political establishment kept the project on track. to the parkway since they believed it would promote urban sprawl in the vast area around Houston. Controversy The Grand Parkway Model Falls Apart and the threat of lawsuits continued through the 1990s, In the early 1980s it seemed like a good idea. The with environmentalists asking for more comprehensive Grand Parkway Association would obtain land donations environmental impact studies. Ultimately it was deter- for the right-of-way and pay for all work leading up to 320 Houston Freeways

The alternative: This view of FM 1960 north of Houston shows the probable future of suburban transportation in Houston without the Grand Parkway. The farm-to-market road has been engulfed by suburban development and has become a heavily commer- cialized corridor with nonstop strip shopping centers, signage, and traffic lights. (Photo: March 2003)

construction, making the projects attractive to TxDOT on evident with the second segment, the I-2 segment east of a cost-benefit basis and expediting construction. The diffi- Houston between the East Freeway (IH 10) and SH 146 culty in completing the first section of the Grand Parkway in Baytown. The project was an ideal candidate for the cast that model into doubt. By the early 1990s any hope original Grand Parkway model since a large landowner of moving the Grand Parkway forward with the origi- (USX Steel at the time) was willing to donate land and nally contemplated model was gone. Numerous factors contribute to preconstruction costs. Preliminary work contributed to the demise of the original Grand Parkway began in 1991. Seven years later in August 1998, the en- model, but at the top of the list was the high cost of per- vironmental impact statement was finally complete and a forming environmental studies. The complexity and cost record of decision providing environmental clearance for of environmental studies increased substantially in the the project was issued. The project then had to get in line 1990s due to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and for state funding. In the meantime, landowners became the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of impatient and allowed offers of land donations to expire. 1991. In 1991 TxDOT officials decided to perform a full The Grand Parkway Association was originally expected environmental impact statement for each of the 10 unbuilt to provide 87.5% of the right-of-way for the segment. In segments rather than a less comprehensive environmental February 2000, the percentage of donated right-of-way assessment. Each segment would require millions of dol- was reduced to 80%, and in March 2002 the percentage lars in funding and years of study. The growth of Houston was further reduced to 60%. A $1.7 million contribution and increase in property values also made it more difficult from the new landowner of the USX tract was contingent to obtain land donations. The first segment of the Grand on construction being underway by September 2003. Con- Parkway had about 90% of its right-of-way donated, tracts estimated at $43 million for the Grand Parkway and but subsequent sections were not expected to equal that $29.4 million for associated work on IH 10 are scheduled percentage. The long delays in obtaining environmental to be awarded just prior to the deadline.71 clearance, uncertainty over the availability of funds for Approximately 11 years would lapse between the construction, and lack of firm timetables for completing opening of the first segment of the Grand Parkway and segments made donations less attractive to landowners the completion of the second segment. With nine addi- along the route.70 tional unbuilt sections, the timeline for completion of the The tremendous difficulty in moving sections of Parkway was looking to be very long—if it could be done the Grand Parkway to construction became even more at all. June 2005 Update: All remaining sections of the Grand Parkway will be constructed as a tollway. The free section in far west Houston may be converted to a tollway. Strong neighborhood opposition to segment F-2 has delayed that section and may necessitate a major corridor realignment. Studies continue on all sections of the Grand Parkway, including the previously dormant segments A, H, and I-1. The Loops 321

Building Momentum Key dates in the history of the Grand Parkway By the mid-1990s the Grand Parkway Association evolved into more of a coordination and lobbying entity 1961 The inter-county loop is first discussed. for the Grand Parkway. The money to keep the project 1965 Plans for a wide outer freeway loop are revealed. going would have to come from county governments, 1966 The Grand Parkway is named, included in the official TxDOT, and toll road agencies. long-range plan, and proposed to be the centerpiece of The poor prospects for obtaining construction funding a belt of parks around the periphery of Houston. prompted an effort in 1998 to build the section around 1976 The Grand Parkway is cancelled. northwest and north Houston, from the Katy Freeway (IH 1984 The Grand Parkway is restored to the official long- 10) to the Eastex Freeway (US 59), as a tollway. In 1999 range plan. The Grand Parkway Association is formed. a consultant concluded that toll revenue would be suffi- 1994 The first section of the Grand Parkway opens west of cient to pay for only 25% of the project cost. The Harris Houston. County Toll Road Authority offered to build it as a tollway if TxDOT paid for 75% of the cost, but TxDOT rejected 1998 A series of environmental impact and alignment studies 72 begins, defining the parkway route for approximately the proposal. 103 miles (165 km). In 1998 the wheels were set in motion for substantial progress on the Grand Parkway—a wave of events that 2003 Construction begins on a 10-mile (16 km) section east of Houston. Toll road status becomes increasingly likely will probably lead to construction of numerous sections for the remaining sections. of the Grand Parkway. A study and public hearing process for the environmental impact statement for segment C southwest of Houston was launched in March 1998. This In August 2002 a $7.5 million study to define the study considered one of the three most environmentally alignment and complete the environmental impact state- sensitive sections of the Parkway. The alignment would ment for segment B southeast of Houston began. With the need to traverse through a region with parks, lakes, a large launching of that study, approximately 75% of the Grand oil field, the Brazos River bottomland hardwood forest, Parkway was either built, was about to begin construction, an observatory, conservation areas, a prison, wildlife had its alignment defined, or was under study. In 2001 populations, and the wide Brazos River flood plain. In the Harris County Toll Road Authority published a map October 2000 a recommended preferred alignment which showing potential future toll road corridors it might con- avoided the sensitive areas was approved by the Houston- sider. The entire Grand Parkway, excluding the completed Galveston Area Council, the regional planning agency section west of Houston and the imminent section east of that must approve all highway projects. A record of deci- Houston, is shown as a toll road candidate. The northwest sion providing environmental clearance was expected in and north sections of the Grand Parkway were being re- 2003. Fort Bend County voters approved a bond issue in studied for toll road feasibility in 2003. Toll-supported 2001 providing $7.7 million for project development and bond financing increasingly appeared to be the only way right-of-way acquisition, moving the project development to build the Grand Parkway in the near future. In April process forward.73 2003, the Texas Transportation Commission approved a After the 1999 study concluding that the northwest and resolution supporting the construction of the remaining north sections of the parkway were not financially feasible sections of the Grand Parkway as tollways, with the Har- as a tollway, TxDOT and the Harris County Toll Road Au- ris County Toll Road Authority taking over the sections thority entered into an agreement to provide $8 million in in Harris County. The Texas Transportation Commission funding to complete environmental studies. In 2002 the was essentially telling the Houston area that if it wanted preferred alignment for the corridor was identified. This the Grand Parkway built, it would have to be done with 52-mile (83 km) stretch included two environmentally- local funds. The financial strength of the Harris County sensitive sections, segment E in west Houston through the Toll Road Authority and the acceptance of tollways in Katy prairie and segment G in north Houston through the Houston make the financial feasibility of constructing the San Jacinto River bottomland hardwood forest. However, segments around northwest and north Houston as tollways the alignment through urbanized areas just west of the increasingly likely.75 North Freeway (IH 45) proved to be the most controver- In 2003 the Grand Parkway has achieved greater mo- sial. Neighborhood groups threatened litigation to stop the mentum than at any other time during its 38-year history. Grand Parkway, but political officials held firm, saying Many obstacles remain before construction can begin, that the Grand Parkway is needed. Ultimately, an align- and only time will tell if Houston gets its unprecedented ment acceptable to the neighborhoods was selected, caus- third freeway loop. If a wide outer loop can be built in any ing a snakelike curve in the route. The draft environmental major American city, Houston is the place where it will impact statement was completed in 2003, and a record of happen. decision authorizing construction is expected in 2004.74